Shadows of the Past
by Sparkling Patronus
Summary: Danny Fenton is shifting through photos one day, photos from a life he left behind almost two years ago. Now he has a choice to make about returning, and will it really be that easy a choice to make? Some DxS
1. Photographs

**Hey all, Sparkling Patronus here! This is actually my first real Danny Phantom fanfiction, even though it's not my first fanfiction in general. I'm hoping my friends don't see this now that they know my username on here, 'cause I'd never live it down :P Anyway, off that topic, let me give you some info. **

**Summary: Danny Fenton is shifting through photos one day, photos from a life he left behind almost two years ago. Now he has a choice to make, should he go back or not? And will it be that easy a choice to make?**

Seventeen year old Danny Fenton had been shifting through some of his old photographs out of sheer boredom. He froze as his eyes lighted upon a certain photo. He picked it up slowly, with great care, and looked it over. Memories swam through his head as he studied it. It was a picture of Sam, Tucker, and himself standing in front of his old house. The big 'Fenton Works' sign flashed in the background as they smiled at whoever was taking the picture.

The photo wasn't the greatest ever taken. Their eyes had turned a strange shade of red and there was a glare in the corner, signifying that whoever had taken the picture had not checked the light before snapping it. Danny would bet anything it had been his father on the other side of the camera, but he couldn't quite remember anything about when it was taken.

He appreciated the photo all the same, even though he couldn't even remember the last time he had looked at it. The three of them were still in their freshman year. He looked them over. He was wearing the same red shirt with an oval and the same pair of jeans he still wore to this very day. There was Sam, her old black and purple outfit, her hair pulled back in a small pony tail on the top of her head. And there was Tuck. He wore his yellow shirt and his green pant, his red beret still in place on his head. Tuck had eventually stopped wearing that old thing. Had he ever thought it had actually looked good?

They had moved out of their old house not long after this picture was taken. It couldn't have been long after anyway, since they had moved halfway through his freshman year. His parents had decided they needed a bigger workspace, and they had moved a few blocks away to a larger house when they had saved enough money. It hadn't affected his life much. He had still attended the same school, it just felt odd to be in a different house. It had begun to feel like home though, especially once his parents had installed their gadgets and built their lab.

He had walked past his old house again a few months later. He hardly recognized it. The large machinery had been taken down. Well, a lot of it had been taken by his parents, but whatever had been left behind had vanished. It had been completely redone. The orange paint had been changed to beige shingles. It was wider and had been turned into another boring, ordinary old house. If the address hadn't been the same address he wouldn't have even been sure it was the same house.

He hadn't thought his old home was small or strange, or different in anyway. It was just where he lived, and it was just that, his home. The fact that there was always an explosion rocking the house, or green ectoplasm splashed over something meant nothing to him. To everyone else his parents may have seemed strange. Even his sister Jazz seemed to think it was too weird. Danny had never thought of it that way. They were just his parents; it was what he had grown up with.

He shifted through the photos until he found another that made him stop. There was another picture from his freshman year. Jazz was in this one too. The four of them were standing on the outside of his old school. The big sign in the background read 'Casper High'.

He remembered the school well, despite the fact he hadn't been there in a while. He remembered the long, white hallways, the bullies, the classes that never seemed to end, the nagging teachers, the stress of homework and tests as he tried to maintain his C average. He had hated going to that school each day. His friends Sam and Tuck were the only things that brightened his school days at all. However, school had always seemed to be the least of his troubles.

He'd been in trouble for showing up there a few times, but not in the way that was expected. He'd been there in his ghost form, which was usually less than welcome. He'd kept a low profile, and usually no one noticed him, but he'd been caught a couple of time before he could grab whatever ghost he was after at the moment. That had always made school even more stressful than it should have been

Danny stared at the school in the picture again. He had left more than a year and a half ago, halfway into his sophomore year. Things had become too

complicated, and he had felt that he couldn't handle it anymore. His work was piling up, his parents and Valerie were hunting his ghost side, more and more ghosts were coming through the portal. The stress was too much to bear.

He made his decision. He had left the town, leaving a short note of goodbye to his parents. He hadn't explained much. Just that the stress was too much and he had to get away. Jazz, Sam and Tuck were bound to be the only ones who could fully understand what he meant, even if they couldn't understand exactly why he meant it.

He had gone to another small town not so far away, but far away enough so that no one could track him down. He had acquired a false ID, and got a job at the local supermarket. He used every penny he had saved since he was three years old and bought a small, run down apartment in one of the worst parts of town. It wasn't much, but it had a roof and a toilet.

Other than that he had made no contact with anyone as Danny Fenton, but instead protected the town as Danny Phantom. There were not nearly as many ghosts here, just whatever ghosts strayed out of Amity or Wisconsin. Other than that he acted as more of the towns patrol squad, stopping robberies and car crashes and such. He had been much more careful not to be spotted here. He doubted anyone in the town even knew that Danny Phantom existed.

However, through it all he had missed everyone and everything so much. Now he couldn't help but wonder if he should go back. His friends would just be in the very beginning of their senior year now, since it was only late September. Jazz would be off at college. He wondered briefly where she had decided to go. She'd had so many options; so many colleges wanted her. She was always so bright.

If he went back, could he possibly catch back up? He hadn't been in school for more than a year. He saw now that his choice was so rash, so stupid! Why had he left? It would be so hard if he decided to return.

He no longer felt so much stress as a ghost hunter. He had spent his entire time away training, strengthening his powers. He was not anywhere near his full potential, but he had gone much farther than he would of at home. His new found powers made his job much easier.

He had also learned to manage his time better, since he needed to keep his job in order to maintain his meager abode. He had been able to fight ghosts and crime, while putting his other priorities first. He would most definitely be able to keep up with his school work. He could work extremely hard to catch up on what he'd missed.

However, that wasn't exactly what he was worried about. It was his friends, his family, everyone and everything he'd left behind when he had left Amity. He'd only been gone less than two years, but it felt like an eternity in his mind. Could they ever forgive him? Would they want him back after all he had done to them, all he had put them through? He wasn't sure he would be so ready to forgive if Tucker or Sam had put him in that position. How could he have been so stupid…

He still remembered the day he'd left quite clearly. Just as he was doing now, he had been going through his photos, trying to calm his nerves as the stress ate away at him. He kept glancing out the window of his bedroom, where he was seated on his bed. He had been thinking of leaving for about a week at that point. How easy would it be to just fly away and not look back?

He saw now what he hadn't seen then. He was a coward. He thought he could call himself a hero, but in truth he was just a scared little kid, running away when the going got tough. He was too wrapped up in his own problems to think about all of the people he was hurting in leaving.

His parents were down at the lab at the time. His sister was upstairs doing research about colleges. In a few quick movements, he emptied his room of all of the money he owned and the essentials he thought he'd need. He scribbled a short note and left it on his dresser.

Before he left, he went back to his bed and opened the photo album back up. He'd taken a few of his favorite pictures out and put them in his pack. These were the ones he was currently looking through on the floor of his shabby one room apartment.

He had taken one last, long look around the room. Then he took off and didn't look back again. He hadn't heard anything of his old home since.

Pushing these thoughts out of his mind, he picked up yet another photo. In this one he saw himself and Tucker fighting it out on one of the video games at the local arcade.

He actually remembered when this one was taken. They had just arrived and settled into their combat. Sam sat on the side and demanded to play winner. While the boys were absorbed in their game, she took out the camera and snapped the picture. She later gave it to Danny to show him 'exactly how absorbed in the game he was'.

He remembered taking trips to that arcade quite frequently. They would stop by after school sometimes. Danny would tell them he had brought all of his allowance, when secretly it was only half. The other half had been stashed away. He was always saving his money. He just felt good to know he had in case he needed it.

He remembered the cops that were always stationed outside the arcade. There were cops all over his town at that point, since it was overrun with ghosts. The cops didn't realize that they couldn't contend with the paranormal.

In the beginning of his sophomore year the arcade was caught in a fire, and it burned to the ground. They hadn't been there in a while anyway at that point, since there were too many other tasks, but it still seemed a shame. The cops said it was the work of some rebellious hoodlum, but Danny remembered fighting the ghost that had been responsible.

Another picture found its way into his hand. There they were, sitting on the stoop of Danny's newer house.

They had the radio out, and Sam and Danny were covering their ears as Tucker attempted to sing, using his pencil as a microphone. And there were his parents, standing by the door watching them. His father had his arm around his mother and they watched on with content smiles on their faces. It was one of those rare times when they came out of their lab to spend a bit of time with their children. He supposed Jazz had taken this picture.

Danny reminisced as he studied the photo. He remembered how they used to joke about how he and Sam would be famous singers, and Tucker would either work the microphones backstage or play a guitar. They said they would start a band together, even though they were never serious, since none of them could play an instrument and Sam was the only one with a half decent voice. He didn't even realize that his eyes were becoming a little watery at this point.

He picked up yet another photo, the last one that was lying on the moth-eaten carpet. His heart rate quickened and he felt as if it would break as he looked at the picture. There they were, he and Sam, sitting on the steps, both looking a bit red in the face. They were moved away from each other, as if they had scrambled into that position quickly.

He remembered the day so clearly, as if it had happened only yesterday. It was a strange feeling, because his other memories were all a bit fuzzy. It had been one of those carefree days during the summer after freshman year. It had been a clear sunny day, and he, Sam and Tuck had all gone for ice cream and then gone back to Danny's house. They were always hanging out at Danny's house.

Tucker had gone inside for a glass of water, leaving Danny and Sam alone on the front steps. He didn't even know what had happened at that moment. One second they were smiling awkwardly at each other, and the next their faces were moving closer and closer together, until their lips touched.

Of course, being the master of inconvenient timing, Tucker picked that moment to exit the house, only to find his friends locked in a kiss. He nearly fell down the steps at the unexpected site. He cleared his throat loudly, and the two of them jumped. They pulled apart, looking shocked at their sudden behavior. They moved apart, both burning red in the face, just as Tucker snapped a picture with his PDA.

Sam and Danny had been closer after that, but they never went steady. They sometimes would awkwardly hold hands, or blush at each other, but they never actually considered themselves boyfriend and girlfriend, though Danny had a feeling they might have eventually. Why hadn't he stayed? He'd had a good life; he had friends, a loving family, a warm home, and a possible girlfriend. Why had he seen fit to leave it all behind? Had he really been that dense?

Danny suddenly realized how much he'd matured over his time on his own. He now saw so much more than he had before he left. But was that the price to pay for losing everything he'd once loved? Was it to late to make amends? Should he even bother to take the chance?...

Then he though again about Sam. Had she found someone else when he left? His heart nearly broke at the very though. But it made sense. Sam was pretty, she was funny, she was smart, and so much more. Surely there were so many guys she could have. Had she completely forgotten him?

Then Danny realized exactly how much he missed his home. His life had been so empty since he'd left. He hadn't had any real contact with other humans, except for his manager and the criminals he captured. There was no one his own age to talk to, no parents to lean on when he felt upset, no overbearing older sister to confide in...

But then he once again thought about the period of time he'd been gone. Did his family even care if he had left? Did they miss him? Had they forgotten all about him? What if Sam and Tucker had made new, better friends? Friends who wouldn't leave them behind without a second thought for their own, selfish reasons. He probably shouldn't return. Everyone probably had a better life without him. They probably didn't miss him at all.

He knew he had yet another choice to make, not unlike the foolish one he'd made that fateful day. It seemed that each time he pulled out his old photos it brought with it a choice that he knew would change his life. But this time, he vowed, he'd make the right one.

Danny thought for a bit more. His options were to stay here, alone in his run down apartment, and cling to the hope that his family was still missing him, or he could go back, but then there was the awful possibility of finding out they didn't.

Danny looked down at the photographs once more, scattered haphazardly across the floor. The last remainders of the life he'd once known; the shadows of his past. He looked down upon those smiling faces. His own, and those of the people he had once considered his life. Then he made his decision.

Danny stood up, and shook his right leg, which had fallen asleep. He gathered up the photographs and shook his head sadly. There was no way he could return. He moved across the room to his bureau, one of the five dusty pieces of furniture he owned.

He shoved the photos in the drawer and closed it, planning not to look at them again for quite a while. It was too painful. It felt much like the way he had run and never turned back. He turned to walk the other way, when he saw something had fallen from the drawer.

He bent down to pick it up. It appeared to be a small piece of paper. He turned it over. It was a card, a card from his fifteenth birthday, his last birthday at home. He didn't remember bringing this along. Had it been wedged between the photos? He opened in and looked inside.

There, taped on one side was another photo. It was of his entire family, and all of his friends standing together outside of his house. They all wore smiles proudly on their faces. Sam, Jazz and Tucker stood there next to him. His mom and dad stood behind them. His dad had one arm around him and one around his mother. His mother's hand rested on Jazz's shoulder.

He looked to the other side, where there was a note written in his mothers neat handwriting. It read:

_Dear Danny,_

_Happy big 15 sweetie! We're so proud of you! I know sometimes we may nag you about your grades and get your case about things, but the truth is that you really do make us so proud. There's no other son in the world that could measure up to your worth. So don't ever forget that. Your father feels the same way, and so do your friends and your sister. Don't you ever forget it, you mean so much to all of us!_

_Love,_

_Mom, __Dad, __Jazz,Tucker, and Sam _

Danny closed the card slowly. He'd never taken the time to actually read what was written on the inside. He had been so excited by the twenty dollar bill in the enveloped that he had just pulled that out and left the card on the table. His mother must have slipped it into his photo album later that night so he could read it another time.

A dark drop fell onto the card, and then another. Danny was surprised to find that he was crying. His resolve strengthened, he made another choice. Turning back around, he took the photos back out of the drawer. He placed them all neatly inside the card and looked out the window. He would not be a coward this time. He would correct that error he had made so long ago. He was better than that now.

Gathering up his belongs; he shoved them all into his pack once again and that was the last that town ever heard of the strange young man who lived on the shabby side of town.

**So there you have it, the very first chapter. I hope you like it, and please drop a review if you have the time because I'd really like to know what you though. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Oh Little Town of Amity

**OK and the moment none of you have been waiting for, chapter 2! Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter you guys, I appreciate them so very much. It's nice to know someone's actually reading this :) On with the story!**

As Danny flew off through the roof of the building, he stopped and hovered in the air. He took one look at the shabby dump he had called home for a year. No, he hadn't even called it home. He realized that his home was, and always would be in Amity Park, with his family. Or, if his family moved, it would be wherever they went. Home is where the heart is.

Then Danny froze. His parents hadn't moved again had they? What if they no longer lived in Amity? What if they had left and he'd never be able to find them again. He ceased the thoughts and took a deep breathe. No, he would not think about that possibility, he wouldn't let himself. They had to be there! He had to know for sure if they really missed him. The heartfelt card his mother had written had peaked his curiosity.

Danny still had yet to decide whether he was going to return for good. It would be too hard to just confront his friends and parents and try to patch things up like nothing had ever happened. However, he had to know. He had to go back, whether or not he'd let them know he was there he'd decide in due time. He had plenty of time to think on the way there after all.

So Danny began his flight back to the town he had once called home. He felt as if he was on autopilot, as he paid almost no attention to where he was going. He had a pretty uneventful trip. Besides having to dodge an oncoming airplane he hadn't seen until the last minute, there was no trouble. Before long, and much sooner than he'd expected, he was staring at that familiar billboard that welcomed visitors into Amity. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and he pressed on.

He entered Amity and floated back a bit to survey the town. It really didn't look much different than it had when he'd lived there. Of course, there was a layer of ectoplasm covering some things, and a few building seemed to have been reduced to rubble, but those were the only difference. He supposed that someone had been keeping the ghosts in check well enough while he was away. He supposed maybe his parents had risen to the call of duty. Had they noticed the sudden disappearance of Danny Phantom along with Danny Fenton? Nah. They were too dense to make a connection.

The town seemed very quiet right now, but Danny supposed that was because it was sill pretty early, but late enough for school to have started. Anyone who had to get to school or work was already there, but the people who had no where to go had not yet awakened. Once and a while a car would pass down the street, but save for that and the sounds of birds chirping the town was eerily quiet.

He continued on, flying further into the town in search of familiar land marks or familiar faces. He first passed the local supermarket. He could remember going there with his mother when he was little. He'd run around the aisles, helping his mother collect items from her grocery list. Then, when they'd finished, he'd beg a quarter or two out of her for the little gumball machine outside the shop. He smiled at the recollection.

He flew on, and soon came to a building he didn't recognize. It was large, and it was painted a bright shade of red. On the front it read 'Amity Arcade'. It took Danny only a few moments to realize that this was where the old arcade had burned down. They must have rebuilt a new arcade in its place so Amity's youth would once again have a place to hang out. It didn't seem to be opened right now, for the lights on the front were not lit and there was no one inside. He continued on his way.

He kept going in the same direction. He wasn't sure exactly where he was going, it just felt good to be seeing such familiar sites. He flew over the park, and past the library. He passed the technology shop, and memories of spending his after school hours playing DOOMED with Tucker in his freshman year came back.

Technus, Skulker, Ember, he hadn't seen any of his old enemies in as long as he'd seen his old friends. He couldn't even remember the names of many of them. Gee, what was the name of that annoying one, that ghost that had been obsessed with boxes? He couldn't quite place the name. It wasn't like he was complaining though; he didn't exactly miss his enemies. He knew some of them might have stopped coming to Amity after his leave. Especially Skulker, whose main purpose for coming was to hunt Danny.

Then he wondered again who'd been keeping the ghosts that were still coming to Amity in check. They were obviously doing a decent job of it, since the town was still in one piece, but it still did look a bit worse for the wear. However, no ghosts seemed to be around right now, or Danny's ghost sense would have been going off. Once again, he supposed it must be his parents. Perhaps they had produced more ghost weapons and employed more people to help them in the hunt.

Danny continued on, now passing the zoo. He remembered staking out all night at the zoo one night in freshman year. He'd been trying to raise his grade on a report he'd written, which had received a D, by writing a new report about the purple back gorilla at the local zoo. It hadn't been the most wonderful time of his life, but now, as he was floating by himself over the little town of Amity, he would just love to be able to turn back time and be there again. To be the innocent 14 year who had just recently acquired his ghost powers, and was steadily getting the hang of it with his friends by his side.

Still Danny pressed forward, shaking these other thoughts from his head. He flew forward, not even realizing where he was going. He soon found himself in front of the old house he'd moved out of in his freshman year. He stopped only when the site of orange paint and heavy machinery did not meet his eyes, and he realized he'd flown toward the wrong house.

He was about to turn and head to the house he hoped his parents were occupying now, when two small children burst from the front door of the house. They were a boy and a girl, and their sudden appearance broke the silence of the early morning. They looked too small to have yet started school. The girl seemed older than the boy, Danny supposed the boy was three and the girl was four. The boy seemed to be carrying a rubber ball, and they stopped on the sidewalk in front of the house and began to play catch. Not long after, the mother came out to keep an eye on her children.

Danny felt a tug at his heartstrings as he watched the two children playing. How many times had he and Jazz played that same game, in that same spot when they were younger? He could even remember his parents taking shifts watching their kids to make sure they wouldn't dart out into the street to chase the ball, should it bounce in the wrong direction.

Danny remembered those carefree days of playing with his sister. Jazz had been his best, and only friend when he was little. She'd played with him all the time, and they'd been very close, even if they would fight like all siblings will on occasion. Jazz. He hadn't had any luck making friends in elementary school, so Jazz had always hung out with him, and even let him hang out with her own friends. Then, when she was in high school, and he in middle school, she'd begun to do her own thing and forgot about Danny. However, by then he was in seventh grade, and had already met Tucker and Sam, so he hadn't paid it much mind.

Over the next two years, they'd grown further apart, until it reached the point where he felt as though he and his sister were strangers. She'd become a stuck up, overbearing know it all who was constantly getting on his case. Of course that had changed when she'd found out his secret. After that, their bond had started to reinstate itself, growing stronger than before as she battled ghosts along side him. Jazz. She'd be in college right now, as it was somewhere in late September. If she heard that he'd returned would she even want to see him? They'd grown to trust and look out for each other, but that trust had been broken when he'd gone. Could he ever rebuild their brother sister relationship again, or was it lost forever?

Danny sighed as he hung his invisible head and turned around, about to fly off toward the other house. Then he stopped, as something else caught his eye. Caper High was in clear view from where he was floating right now, as if trying to make itself look more intimidating. It was still pretty early, and they should only be in first period about now, second the latest. Maybe he should stop their first before school let out for the day, he could visit home later.

Making up his mind, Danny instead turned in the other direction. He took off for his high school, not knowing what he was going to find their, or if it would be a good thing.

**OK, I know that chapter was kind of short and pretty uneventful. It was basically just Danny's reintroduction to Amity. After that the chapters should be a bit more interesting. I hope you think so anyway.**

**Well, thanks for reading this far you guys! Please, if you don't find it too much trouble, leave a review. Believe me, it'll get the next chapter up a lot faster because it motivates me to write! I actually put this one up way earlier than expected, since it wasn't supposed to go up until Monday. Well bye until next time!**


	3. Casper High Encounters

**Hey all! I'm baaaack! Once again, your reviews have forced me to write earlier than I was planning! Thanks you guys, you're reviews mean lots to me! Well, I won't ramble this chapter, on with the fic!**

Danny set off in the direction of Casper High. He flew up to the familiar words on the front that read 'Casper High' and strait through the double doors that served as the entrance. Still invisible, he studied that familiar hallway he'd walked down so many times in his freshman and sophomore years. He landed, instead of remaining airborne, and leaned up against the wall. He was invisible, but not intangible as of now.

The halls were nearly empty, save for those few students on a bathroom break, or the wandering teachers who were not currently teaching a class. He just stayed there for a moment, letting the memories of his school days overwhelm him. It was in these halls he'd first revealed the fact he'd obtained ghost powers to Tucker and Sam, in these halls he'd fought Poindexter, Spectra, Bertrand, and so many others. In these halls he'd been repeatedly beat up by Dash, and he'd moaned about his horrible test grades to his two best friends. Wow, he was beginning to wonder why he wanted to come back to this school so badly. The memories were less than pleasant.

He was snapped out of his reverie by the bell that signaled the periods end. Suddenly the halls came alive, as students rushed from whatever class they'd been sleeping through, Danny watched for familiar faces. He knew the seniors had class on the first floor. The first familiar face he spotted was that of Dash Baxter.

Looming above the rest of the senior class due to his sheer size, Danny had no trouble spotting him. He was actually surprised that Dash hadn't been left back at least once, but then he remembered how much Lancer seemed to favor the boy. He wondered briefly if Dash still beat up his classmates, or if he'd taken to preying on the underclassman. Either way, Danny could tell he was still the school bully by the way he pushed everyone else out of his way.

However, Dash's was the only face Danny had time to spot, for the hall was soon emptied once more as the students filed into their respective classes and Danny was left alone. He felt disappointed that he even gotten a glance at either Sam or Tuck. Floating back out, he zoomed off to inspect the rest of the school while the classes were in session.

Danny found the school to be as boring and uninteresting as he had when he'd still attended. Nothing had been changed, and no renovations made, but Danny didn't exactly expect to see the entire school redone in under two years. He zoomed through the familiar halls in circles, exploring corridors with no particular interest. He was brought back to earth only when the class bell rang again. He quickly darted back down toward the senior classes.

The students filled that halls again, but this time, they did not hurry into another classroom. Instead they began drifting over to their lockers, talking and laughing with friends as they went. It looked like it was later in the day than Danny had expected, it was already lunch time. Danny knew that meant that it was already fifth period.

This time Danny saw another face in the crowd that he wasn't particularly fond of. There was Paulina Sanchez, beauty queen of Casper High, looking as flawless as she always had. However, unlike in his freshman year, Danny had no interest in the girl. From the day he had first kissed Sam on the front porch of his house, something had changed; no other girl had mattered to him.

Seeing that Danny was no longer fawning over her in their sophomore year, but instead showing an interest in Sam, she had asked him out. Undoubtedly she had hoped to hurt Sam, and then dump Danny and hurt him too, which was basically shallow version of killing two geeks with one stone. However, Danny had blatantly refused to go out with her. This had evidently hurt Paulina's pride, as she'd never heard the word no from a guy before in her life. She'd been even more horrid toward Danny and Sam than usual from that day forward.

Pulling his eyes away from Paulina, he scanned the overcrowded halls once more. Then he saw them, Tucker and Sam, further down the row of lockers. Tucker gathered his lunch and walked over to Sam, who looked up at him and smiled. The two seemed about to leave, when suddenly another boy walked over to them. Danny froze, had they replaced him? But the boy only handed Sam a notebook that she'd apparently dropped on her way out of class and scurried away. Danny let out the breath he'd been holding.

He looked back toward Tucker and Sam. They hadn't seemed to have changed at all. Sam wore the same black apparel, if a slightly different shirt, and she had her hair done up in that familiar half up, half down style. Tucker wore his yellow shirt and green pants. Some things would never change.

Danny followed the two down the hall and into the special senior cafeteria. It was one of the senior privileges that they ate away from the lower classes. Danny looked around the senior cafeteria as he entered, wishing that he could be among the crowds of students about to settle in to eat and chat with friends.

He floated down to the table where Sam and Tuck were seated, and carefully, so as not to arouse suspicion, he sat down at the end of their table, still invisible.

He watched as Sam and Tuck pulled out their lunches. Apparently they simply brought it instead of fighting for their lives on the dreaded lunch line. He watched as Sam pulled out a salad, and Tucker a sandwich, the same lunches they'd brought every school day as far back as he could remember. Then they began to make conversation.

"So what did you think of Lancer's English test?" asked Sam, taking a forkful of salad.

Tucker swallowed and replied, "I don't know. It wasn't as bad as his last one, but it was still pretty tough. What did you put for number twenty seven?"

"I put choice A I think, but I don't really remember," said Sam.

"Yeah, I don't remember what I put either," said Tucker.

They both laughed lightly.

"So, are we going to do anything this weekend?" asked Sam, pushing a tomato around her plate.

"I guess we could go see a movie, I've been dying to see 'Zombie's from the grave'," Tucker replied.

"I just really wish people would stop calling us a couple wherever we go. Just because you my…only friend and you happen to be a guy, does not mean I like you that way," she said, frustrated.

"Ditto on that," said Tucker, taking another bite of his sandwich.

Sam sighed, "Well, we'll have to just get over it I suppose. It's been that way for a while now anyway,"

Danny watched the conversation with mild fascination, but he couldn't tell if they missed him through their words. Well, what had he expected really? Had he expected Sam to break down and start crying his name? Had he expected Tucker to jump from the table and start yelling for him to come back? He supposed that even if they did miss him, they would have learned to deal with it by now.

He stayed with them through the rest of the lunch period, but nothing of relative interest was said. They basically just had one of the pointless conversations that friends usually have during their lunch period.

Soon the bell rang, and Sam and tuck gathered up the remains of their lunch and tossed the garbage into a nearby trash bin. They then proceeded to make the journey back to their lockers, unaware that they were leaving the missing member of their trio in the dust.

The cafeteria emptied out completely after a while, but still Danny just sat there. He couldn't bring himself to move, something about seeing his old friends again seemed to have paralyzed every muscle in his ghostly body. He felt like he could just sit there for ever, invisible and just stare at the cafeteria wall.

However, after what seemed like hours, Danny seemed to regain his senses, and he finally brought himself to float up and out of the school through the ceiling. It was now time to go home and check on his parents. He wondered if seeing them again would bring as much of a shock. Well, he'd have to go see them if he was ever going to find out.

**Well, there's chapter three! And the fic finally starts to develop a little. I think. OK leave me a review if you have the time. It's my b-day tomorrow and a few reviews would be a very nice gift if you could take the time. Thanks for reading! See ya next chapter!**


	4. There's No Place Like Home

**Hey all, Sparkling Patronus here. So who watched the new episode last night raises hand. I thought it was decent. I'm not really all for the Danny x Valerie myself, but there was plenty of Danny x Sam too, maybe even more. However, one thing I didn't like was Valerie's new suit. It's like they can't leave anything alone. First they did Danny' costume, but that was fine because they only added a 'D' and it wasn't too big a deal. Then they 'upgraded' Technus, which made me a bit upset because I like the whole ad scientist guy look he used to have. Now Valerie's suit. I personally like her simple one better, and I don't understand why she'd want her face in full view like that. Plus, it totally doesn't even look like her when she wears it. It's like they have to change everything! It annoys me. Well, I've finished ranting, I'll be quiet now. No offense to anyone who like the new stuff, that's just my opinion,**

**OK, here's the next chapter guys. Hope you guys actually like the fic so far. Question, you think it's too repetitive? I feel like I'm repeating myself a bit as I write. Maybe it's just me though, what do you think? Well anyway, here's the chapter.**

Danny darted away from the school as quickly as possible, as though he though he could outrun the wave of memories threatening to engulf him. The site of his two best friends had affected him far more than he had originally thought it would. He hadn't even stuck around to see if he could point out any other familiar faces.

Now it was time to journey to his house. He really hoped his parents were still there, he needed to see them. He didn't know what it was, but now he just wanted to see the people that he loved so dearly. He needed to make sure they were alright, make sure they were happy even though he was gone. He didn't want them to be happy that he was gone; he just hoped that they'd been able to get over it. But he hoped most of all that they missed him.

He reached his house in a matter of minutes. This house looked so much more like the home he remembered than the house he'd been to earlier. There was that familiar shade of orange paint that was his father's favorite color, and there, on the top of the house, was that large opt center with the large 'Fenton Works' sign blinking in the front. Danny took a deep breath as he prepared to go inside, but then he stopped.

He'd been invisible for almost four hours now he guessed, maybe he should take a rest up on the roof. He'd make sure to keep himself well hidden, so that none of the neighbors could see him, should they have the urge to look at the roof through their bedroom window. If he heard his parents coming he'd turn invisible immediately.

So Danny floated to the top of the roof and turned visible. It was a cool autumn day and it was only early afternoon, though it felt much later to Danny. He brought his knees up to his chin and rocked himself back and forth gently. This seemed to be a habit he had developed. He sat like this whenever he was thinking hard.

He looked out of the town of his childhood as he sat there. It was so strange, the last time he'd been here he'd been a part of the town, he'd been one of the many inhabitants of Amity, as well as its ghostly protector. Now he was back, and he felt as if he was on the outside looking in as everyone went about their daily business. He was back, but life in Amity went on as usual, no one even aware that young Danny Fenton was perched atop the roof of his former home. He didn't know if he found this thought comforting at the moment, or slightly unnerving.

Once he felt that he was well rested enough, about fifteen minutes later, he turned himself invisible once again and shot down through the roof and into the house. It only took his a moment to realize he was in his old room. It was so strange; it looked exactly as it had the day he'd left. It seemed someone had been taking care of it though, for nothing was dusty or dirty in anyway. Why would his parents bother to maintain a room that no one was living in?

He took a good look around. There was his old computer, turned off across the room. It was still there, and he knew that all of the data he'd collected about his ghostly foes through the years was saved in there, protected by numerous passwords. He'd reinforced it, ever since his sister had been able to hack into his personal files so easily under the password 'Paulina Fenton'.

He walked toward his dresser and opened it. There were all of his old shirts, even if most of them looked exactly the same as the slightly dirty one he was wearing in his human form. He closed the drawer. His room was so much bigger than the apartment he'd lived in for the past year and a half. He'd had such a better life here.

He looked at the shelves. Framed photographs of him with friends and family covered them. He observed each and everyone, trying to remember the precise moment it was taken and who was on the other side of the camera. Photographs were such strange things, he mused. There you were, frozen in time on that small piece of paper. Half the time you couldn't even remember when it was taken, but when you looked back at it, you wondered how fast the time had moved. It was like looking at your past self, smiling happily up at you, even when you felt that your present life was in shambles.

Danny placed the photo of him and Jazz that he was currently looking at back on the shelf. Well, at least he knew his parents still lived here. His business in his room finished, he dropped down another floor and found himself in the kitchen. This room was also empty, so he supposed his parents were either not home or down in the lab. Unlike his own room, his parents seemed to have redone the kitchen in the time he'd been away. There was all new furniture, and the walls had been painted a different color. He wondered exactly when his parents had found the do this.

He walked over to the fridge, where numerous pictures were held on with magnets that had been purchased in various places. His parents rarely used photographs; they'd always preferred to think of the fridge as the family hall of fame.

Danny once again stopped to look at the photographs and other momentums tacked on the fridge. He suddenly realized how much he'd come to appreciate photos in the past two days. They seemed to link him to his past life, a life that seemed to have existed so long ago. A life he couldn't leave behind. A life he so desperately wanted back.

There were various pictures, all from different time periods on the door, and Danny was a bit surprised to find that he was in many of them. He stopped on a certain one. It was the same picture that had been taped in the birthday card he'd read back at the apartment, and it was not held up with a fancy, porcelain magnet purchased from a shop like most of the others. This photo was held up with a makeshift magnet he'd made from clay when he was in preschool. He remembered it well. It didn't seem to have any definite shape, but he'd been trying to make it look like a puppy. He'd stuck a magnet on the back and given it to his parents, who had been delighted. They'd called it his 'first invention', and they'd proudly tacked it on the fridge. He couldn't believe they still had the old thing after all these years.

Turning away from the fridge he looked to the side, where the door leading to the lab was left ajar. So his parents were down in the lab were they? He crept downstairs quietly, using the stairs even though he could have floated down just as easily.

The familiar sight of grey and green met his eyes as he descended the stairs. The first thing that caught his eye was the ghost portal, still swirling eerily and lighting the entire room with a mysterious, green glow. Apparently his parents still hadn't figured out that this was the main reason that ghosts were running wild in Amity. He supposed they'd always be clueless.

Then he saw them. Well, he could only see their backs from his place at the bottom of the stairs, but it was enough to recognize them. They wore those same hazmat jumpsuits they'd always worn. He could tell by their position that they were tinkering with some invention. Some things would never change he supposed.

He floated a bit closer, close enough to see his parent's faces. Well, close enough to see his dad's anyway, for his mom had the hood of her jumpsuit pulled over her face. His father didn't seem to have changed much, though the fact that he had grown older was slightly visible. His hair had turned noticeably greyer, and a few wrinkles creased his face. Other than that there hadn't been much change with his father. Physical change anyway, Danny wasn't really sure about anything else.

The two of them worked in silence, and Danny just stayed there, watching with mild fascination as his parents connected wires and tightened bolts. Danny had never actually seen his parents inventing before. They'd made it clear that no one was to bother them while they were working, and Danny had never really seen fit to break that rule before today.

After about a half an hour of labor, his parents stood up and stretched, picking up the invention. Danny wondered if they were finished or just taking a break, but he followed them all the same. They wandered over to the other side of the room and took a seat on one of the chairs that were placed randomly around the lab.

Maddie sighed as she sat and she pulled down her hood. Danny saw that there was a more prominent change in her than there had been in his father. Her hair seemed to have a few small grey streaks running through it, but they weren't too noticeable and Danny supposed he only realized it because he was close. It was her face however, that had taken the most change. It really didn't look like old age, she looked tired. She rested her arms against her knees and slouched down as she sank into the chair. She had bags under her eyes that made it appear as though she hadn't had a decent night's sleep in months. But it was her eyes that shocked Danny. It was like something had flickered and died. His mother's eyes, which once glowed with a happy and hyper light, were now dull and darkened. He wondered what had caused that.

However, he noticed no change in her mannerism as she looked up and said, "Alright Jack, let's try this baby out shall we?" With that she picked up the small machine and pressed a button, which Danny assumed was the on switch.

Not expecting his parents to turn on any ghost hunting devices while he was in the room, Danny took an involuntary step backwards. He stumbled a bit and fell back. He assumed he would have knocked over the table behind him had he not been intangible at the time.

However, his panic was for naught, because when his mom flipped the switch the invention made a sickly coughing sound and emitted a cloud of grey smoke.

"Darn it!" shouted Jack, waving the smoke away from his face, "It still doesn't work!"

"I'm sure it's fine Jack," said his mother as she opened the back of the small machine and began to tinker with the insides, "It just needs some more tweaking"

Danny walked back over to his parents and took a deep breath. He let the panic he'd felt drain out of his system. Unfortunately, he'd let his guard down at precisely the wrong time, for the machine suddenly whirred to life. Danny gulped as he recognized it. Fenton ghost detector.

Apparently his parents had made some changed to the small invention, for it was much louder and more obnoxious than he remembered. A red siren on the top buzzed as the machine shouted out 'Ghost detected!' in a robot like voice over and over.

Jack and Maddie seemed as surprised by this sudden reaction as Danny, though they recovered much more quickly. Springing into action, they immediately grabbed a weapon apiece out of a nearby bin. Maddie began waving the detector around frantically, obviously trying to locate the source of the disturbance. She stopped facing Danny and they pointed their guns at Danny.

Finally regaining the feeling in his brain, Danny shot off through the ceiling just as the guns fired. Before he exited the house, he heard his mother sigh exasperatedly and state, "I told it just needed a bit of tweaking"

**OK, there's chapter four. This one was a bit longer. Well, thanks tons for the reviews last time guys! They made me happy! My b-day was good. Lotta people didn't show up to my party cuz they couldn't make it, but it was still fun. Anyway, let me just reply to a review quick.**

**Apolla360- Yes, there will be DxS in later chapters, I just don't know how much. It might only be an implied thing or they might really get into a relationsip. I'll see how the story progresses as I write.**

**OK, thanks for reading you guys! Please drop a review if you have time and I'll see you next chapter!**


	5. A Familiar Chase

**Hey all, Spakling Patronus here again with another chapter. Really not much to say this time, except thanks for the reviews you guys gave last time! Well, enjoy the chapter.**

Danny flew away from his house at top speed, not slowing down or looking back until he was sure he was at a far enough distance that his parents couldn't follow him. He slowed to a halt over the park and sat down to catch his breathe. Even though he was in his ghost form, he was still half human, and retained all of the functions of the human body, even as a ghost.

Seeing that there was no else anywhere near where he was seated, he allowed himself to become visible once more, keeping his eyes open so he could vanish again should someone wander by. Deciding it was safe enough, he transformed back into Danny Fenton. As long as no one who could recognize him wandered through, he'd be fine.

Danny leaned back against the cold wood of the park bench. His legs were still shaking from the shock of that unexpected flight. He put a hand on his chest and took several long, deep breaths in an attempt to calm his racing heart. When he finally felt better, he relaxed and began to reflect on the days events.

He'd certainly had the most eventful day he'd had in quite a while. He couldn't believe what a shock had been generated from the mere site of his family and friends. Despite that however, he didn't feel as if he'd had much luck at all. He didn't know what he'd expected to find here in Amity. Maybe he'd expected the people to show signs that they missed him. He hadn't really comprehended the fact that even if they did, they probably weren't going to randomly shout it to the heavens.

Danny sighed again. He was feeling pretty down on his luck. Maybe he should have just stayed back at his apartment and left the matter alone. But then he thought about it again. He could have stayed at his apartment and what? Just stayed secluded until he died, cold and alone in some apartment on the edge of town, still wondering if anyone cared about him? No, he had resolved to come back, to prove he was not a coward, and anything he could possibly find here was better than the possibility of anything he could have found should he have stayed behind.

Sighing once more, Danny decided that the brief break was over, and that it was time to get up again. But then he reflected, where was he supposed to go? He'd already seen his friends and his parents, and it was already slipping into early evening. He hadn't exactly expected to patch things up and stay with his parents, but he really hadn't thought of where he'd stay come nightfall.

It didn't really matter anyway, he supposed. He could always find an old, abandoned warehouse or a partially destroyed building to reside in. There seemed to be many of them in Amity now anyway. He would have just stayed in the park overnight, but he didn't think he'd be able to maintain invisibility while he was asleep, and he knew there were cops on patrol in the park at night. Either way, he'd find someplace with a roof, it couldn't be worse than where'd he'd been living anyway.

Transforming back into his ghost form, he floated up off the bench. However, on turning back to the bench he'd been sitting on, he noticed something he hadn't seen before. There was a sign on the bench, and that sign clearly read 'WET PAINT'.

"This day just gets better and better," Danny mumbled to himself as he turned intangible to let the paint slide off himself. His voice was a bit horse and raspy from disuse, as he hadn't actually found the need to talk in quite a while. Even at work he hadn't talked, just nodded obediently at whatever he was told to do. All conversations he'd needed to have were held in his own mind. In fact, it actually startled him a bit to hear his own voice.

Now considerably calmer and paint-free, Danny rose up into the now darkening sky, turning himself invisible as he went. Then something happened that had not happened to Danny in quite a while. A thin wisp of blue smoke rose out of Danny's mouth, barely visible in the chilly night air. It was his ghost sense.

Quite startled by the sudden development, Danny spun around to look for the source of the disturbance. However, before he even had time to comprehend what was happening, something sped by in a rush of green and red, nearly knocking Danny out of the sky.

Danny looked around once more, trying to see what had nearly hit him. His eyes landed on a battle taking place very nearby. There was a small green ghost, Danny recognized as an ectopus. Ectopus? Since when did they come out of the ghost zone? He hadn't seen one of them since he'd been to Vlad's mansion for his parents' college reunion, and he figured they had not exited the ghost zone of their own accord since he'd fought them for the very first time. So why now, were they attacking Amity. Had the weaker spirits been drifting out of the ghost zone as well after they'd heard that he was no longer protected Amity.

Directing his attention back to the battle, he immediately studied the second figure. Dressed in a red costume and riding on a hover board, the figure looked all the more mysterious in the night. She wore a mask concealing her face, but Danny immediately recognized her.

It was Valerie Gray, the ghost hunter bent on revenge against all paranormal spirits. Danny had completely forgotten about her! How could he have? She was always after him when he was in his ghostly form, as he was undoubtedly at the top of her hit list. No doubt she had also contributed to keeping Amity almost ghost-free while he was away, which was obvious by the way she was preparing to eliminate the ghost in front of her.

So suddenly that the ghost had no time to get out of the way, Valerie pulled out a large bazooka and blasted it sky high. It exploded in a flash of energy, leaving its remains of ectoplasm splattered across the streets below. That certainly explained why a layer of ectoplasm practically coated the town. Didn't anyone bother to clean up this mess?

Valerie put away her gun. Danny didn't know where she pulled these weapons out of, since there didn't seem to be anything to hold them, but the weapon was gone all the same. She seemed about to take off, but she stopped.

Apparently the watch on her wrist was some sort of ghost detection device, because it had been beeping uncontrollably all through her battle with the ectopus, and had not ceased its racket now. She studied the watch for a moment, before the gun came back out.

Danny jumped, this time more aware of what was happening than he'd been in his parents' lab. Valerie seemed to have figure out where he was, but before she fired her first shot he was off. He flew fast, knowing that she was undoubtedly on his tail. He had one chance; he'd have to find a place to turn human. Those trackers scanned for large concentrations of ghost energy, but when he was in human form that was concealed. She'd lose the trail if he could only change back.

Danny kept flying, dodging an occasional blast from Valerie's gun as he went. He did not become visible; he didn't want to reveal himself. He hoped her tracker was unable to identify exactly which ghost she was chasing. He put on a sudden burst of speed and dodged behind the arcade he'd passed by earlier. Seeing his chance, he changed back. However he'd still remained invisible, as he was able to do in his human form.

Just as he'd hoped, Valerie stopped short in mid air and looked back down at her watch. She looked around for a moment, and Danny suspected that she was wearing a very confused expression beneath that red mask. Finally though, she put the weapon away and took off.

A few minutes later, upon deciding that it was safe, Danny returned to his ghost form. Deciding almost being obliterated by ghost hunters twice was enough for one day, he decided to find a place to rest for the night. He took off into the night sky and began looking for a suitable place to fit his needs.

However, he had hardly made it even a block away when that blue mist floated up out of his mouth once more, making him stop short. He looked around, but suddenly he heard a scream pierce the night air. He froze. That was not just any scream. He'd know that scream anywhere. Time seemed to go in slow motion as his mind screamed out to him. Sam!

**Ok, and there's chapter five. I think things should start to become a bit more interesting after this point. Well anyway, please leave a review if you can take the time. Oh an just out of curiosity, who's everyone's favorite character (besides Danny)? I'd have to say mine is Jazz, because her character's developed a lot since the beginning of the show. At first she seemed annoying and nosy to me and I didn't like her much, now she'd the caring older sister and I think she's awesome. Dunno what brought this up, I'm just curious. Well anyway, that's all till next time!**


	6. To The Rescue

**Sparkling Patronus here again! OK, so I really wasn't supposed to update this thing until the weekend. However, I got so many reviews for the last chapter that I just started writing the next one. Well anyway, thanks for the reviews you guys. I notice all of you who answered had Sam or Vlad as a favorite character besides Danny, interesting. Well anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.**

Every muscle in Danny body was telling him to fly and help Sam, whose scream he'd heard only a few moments before. He knew it must have been a ghost that had done whatever had caused Sam to scream. There was no way there was no connection between his ghost sense going off and her scream. However, his mind was telling him differently. He couldn't possibly hope to save her without exposing himself!

Feeling his ghost sense go off yet again at his lack of action, he made up his mind. It was better to risk exposing himself than risking finding his friend dead! Not even taking another moment to think on the matter, he darted off in the direction the sound had come from.

It didn't take him long to find the source of the problem. There, down below in the street, was a large ghost he didn't recognize. Lying just a short distance away was Sam. She seemed to be unconscious; the knocked out by the ghost that was towering over her. He hoped she wasn't hurt too badly. His friends must have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He turned himself visible; it was too hard to fight while trying to maintain invisibility.

Swooping down for closer inspection, he was able to get a closer look at the large ghost. It was not a ghost he'd ever seen before but, though large, it did not look too powerful at all. It looked simply like a large blob of ectoplasm, with four tentacles waving around in different directions. That was basically the best way to describe it. It seemed to be moving toward Sam, so Danny touched down in front of it to protect her where she lay unconscious. However, when he made a move to step backwards he slipped on something and landed on his back.

Picking himself up quickly, he looked at what had caused him to fall over. A Fenton Thermos! He picked it up quickly and took no hesitation in sucking the ghost inside. It hardly put up a fight as it was dragged into the confines of the small thermos. Danny capped it quickly, his job done. Now he had to be sure to get out of there before Valerie showed up.

He approached Sam, wondering why the thermos had been lying on the street near her. Then it struck him. It was no coincidence that the ghost had attacked Sam. She must have been trying to capture it, but had been hit with one of his waving tentacles before she got the chance to get it in the thermos. That was the most he could make of the situation.

Had Sam been fighting ghosts along with Valerie and his parents once he'd gone? Had Tucker been in on this too? He could imagine his friends doing such a thing; it was exactly like them actually. He couldn't bear the thought that he'd put his friends in danger by leaving. One more thing to add to his list of reasons to be aggravated with himself he supposed.

Tucking the Fenton thermos safely away for later use, Danny walked over to Sam and scanned her for any injuries. She seemed to have a small cut running down the side of her legs and there was a bruise forming on her should, but other than that she seemed fine. Gently as he could, he picked her up from the ground and took off into the night sky.

Since by this point it was already rather dark out, he didn't bother turning himself invisible again. He took off slowly, careful not to jostle Sam too much, since there was the very small risk of dropping her. Still careful not to be seen, he went higher into the air than he normally would have, but not so high that air pressure would pose a problem.

By now it had to be around 8:00, and Danny could not believe just how much he'd gone through in the course of one day. He supposed the fact that he was half ghost would always mean an interesting life for him while he was here in Amity.

Though he'd been out of town for quite some time, he still could not forget the direction to Sam's house. He and Tuck had walked past her house everyday so they could all walk to school together. Vaguely he wondered if Sam and Tuck had driver's licenses and cars at this point. He was sure Sam would have a car if she'd passed her test, since her family had the money to buy her ten cars if she so desired. However, he was not so sure about Tuck, his family wasn't nearly as rich as Sam's.

He reached Sam's house, which was the largest on her block. He supposed he should just leave her in her room, though he wasn't quite sure how she'd take it when she woke up. He hoped that maybe she'd think she'd dreamt the whole experience up, but even if she didn't he couldn't have very well left her out on the street all night could he?

He looked through the window to make sure there was no one else in her room before he phased in. He placed Sam gently on the bed, and made sure it looked like she was in a comfortable position.

He knew he should get out of the house as quickly as possible, but it seemed that something was keeping him there. It was as if his feet were rooted to the carpet. He seemed to be losing his mobility a lot as of late. He simply stood there, staring at her as he watched the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest.

He suddenly found watching his friend sleep very fascinating. It was not that he was looking at her lovingly or anything, it was just the fact that he was this close to her, and visible at the same time that made him want to stay. All day he'd been slinking around friends and family invisibly, always hiding in the shadows or watching from a safe distance, and whenever he chose to get a bit closer he was always careful to keep out of site.

However, it was different now. He was standing so close, and he just didn't want to leave the safe familiarity of his friend's home to find some broken down building to spend the night in. He wished he could stay here, or at Tucker's, or in his own home. It seemed that everything he'd ever taken for granted was now his greatest wish and he honestly couldn't believe he'd ever had a shadow of a doubt that he should have left it all behind just because he was 'too stressed out'.

After a few more moments of being lost in his own thoughts, Danny decided that it would be best if he left. He was about to take off, when Sam suddenly stirred and, before Danny could even think of turning invisible, opened her eyes.

All time seemed to stand still. Violet eyes met glowing green ones and widened considerably. And there was Danny, just standing in the middle of the room. It was too late; he'd been spotted. Every fiber of his being seemed to scream at him to move, to get out of there but he could not tear his eyes away from hers.

Suddenly she sat up, and her eyes widened still. Tearing his gaze away from hers and turning invisible, he took off through the ceiling. All of this occurred in less than five seconds, but it felt like minutes to Danny. He could not believe his own stupidity. Of course she was going to wake up while he was there! She had not been hit so hard, and she'd had over a half an hour to recover! He should have just placed her on the bed and left as his instincts had told him to.

However, along with his feelings of regret there was something else. Was that gratefulness? Beneath his feelings of self hatred for his own stupidity, he found that he was actually a bit happy that Sam had spotted him. She probably would either not remember it in the morning, or would have imagined it all to be a dream.

However, if this was not the case, it saved him all of the trouble of having to reveal himself at a later time! He hadn't been sure how he was going to reveal himself in the first place, and that problem seemed to have solved itself. Then again, maybe it wasn't such a good thing. Sam might think him even more of a coward for running away once again after she'd seen him. Then again, it was dark out, perhaps she hadn't recognized him at all, and she'd just thought it was some other ghost that she'd scared off upon waking.

All of these thoughts chased themselves around Danny's head as he searched for a place to stay the night. He finally found a suitable place. It was a small building, but it looked as if it had been in a fire. It was bound to be pretty unstable, but as long as Danny stayed in his ghost form while inside he'd be fine. After all, his ghostly form weighed almost nothing, so it was not likely to upset whatever was holding the old building together.

He phased through the roof, becoming visible once more. By now, his head was so full of thoughts that it was beginning to give him a headache, and he thought sleep seemed like the only release. Perhaps in the morning his mind would be clearer. This in mind, he drifted off to sleep, not sure if he was happy or saddened that the long day was finally over.

**Well, there you have it, chapter six. Hope you thought it was OK, since it's probably one of the most important chapters in the fic. Well, that's all till next time!**


	7. Back to Casper

**Hey again guys, Sparkling Patronus again! Then again, it is my fic right? Thanks again for the awesome feedback! It made me want to write the chapter early again, but I couldn't because of midterms. But they're over now! Yayness! tosses confetti**

**OK, anyway, before I begin this chapter, lemme give you a warning. In case you haven't already noticed, I love cliffhangers. This chapter ends in one, as do the next three, which I have already written (I stay three chapters ahead so I won't have to discontinue if I can't update each week) and many other will probably also end in them. I take pleasure in being evil. Just thought I'd warn you before you have to find out for yourself. Well, enjoy the chapter!**

Danny awoke the next morning wondering where on earth he was. At first he'd thought he was in his apartment, judging by the lack of light and unpleasant atmosphere. However, he realized he wasn't when he sat up and found himself on the floor of a barren room.

Danny blinked in confusion and looked around. It took only a few moments for the events of the day before to come rushing back to him. He was in Amity. He'd arrived yesterday, seen his parents, his friends, and many other familiar faces. Then the most important event of all came back to him. Sam had seen him. He shot up into a sitting position.

He could suddenly remember every detail of the encounter very clearly; the look of shock on her face, the way she'd shot up in bed, the way her eyes had followed him as he'd turned to leave…

Did Sam remember what had happened as well? Had she told anybody what she'd seen? He had to know. He stood up and stretched, realizing that he was still in his ghost form. It felt strange to stay this way for so long. He realized that he'd never before stayed in ghost mode for more than a couple of hours at a time, nor had he ever actually slept in it.

He floated through the roof of the old building, shielding his eyes from the bright sunshine that greeted him. It already seemed to be a bit late in the morning. It looked late enough for school to have started at any rate. He took a deep breath of fresh air and proceeded to turn himself invisible. He was about to take off for Casper High, until he felt his ghost sense go off.

Sighing in frustration, he brought himself back to visibility and looking around for the source of the current disturbance. His ghost sense seemed to be going off a lot more often then he'd remembered from the last time he'd been here. Then again, he really hadn't been here in a long time.

While he was busily searching for the source of the newest disturbance, he didn't see it sneak up behind him.

"Hello there fellow ghost!" said a voice behind him in a well rehearsed tone. It was as if it had said the same thing many times before, "I am looking for allies, and I-"

However, the ghost's sentence was cut off as Danny nearly jumped out of his skin and turned around. Upon seeing Danny's face, the ghost's eyes widened.

"You!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Danny, "You have been gone for some time now! Where did you come from?"

A look of recognition crossed Danny's face as he turned to look at the ghost.

"Technus?" he asked, looking quite surprised .He hadn't really been expecting to see any of his old foes so soon.

"It is indeed I! Technus, master of…" his sentence trailed off at the look on Danny's face.

"Look, I don't have time to deal with you, I have more important things to think about right now!" said Danny, knowing full well that Technus was undoubtedly here with another scheme to take over the world.

Reaching behind him, Danny found the thermos he'd retrieved last night clipped onto his uniform. He grabbed it and,with one swift motion, sucked Technus inside before he could even comprehend what was happening. Marveling at how easy that capture had been, Danny quickly flew back to his parent's house to put Technus in the ghost zone before heading to the school.

It took him only a few minutes to reach the house. Careful not to make any noise, he slipped down to his parent's lab, making sure to remain invisible all the while. He cursed silently when he realized that his mother was down there with the vacuum, apparently tidying up the lab a bit. Danny remembered when that had been his job.

Deciding that he had no choice but to wait, he watched as his mother busied herself dusting off some beakers on a nearby table. She knocked something over, and Danny heard the sound of glass breaking, as well as a muffles curse from his mother.

Floating over to see what his mother had just destroyed, Danny found her hunched over a shattered picture frame. Inside was a picture of Jazz on what Danny assumed was the day of her graduation from Casper High. She wore a blue gown and square cap, a matching tassel dangling from the top. She clutched what Danny assumed was a diploma in her right hand, and in her left, a certificate on which Danny could make out the word 'Valedictorian'. What a surprise.

Maddie gently picked up the frame and the extra glass and placed it back on the table. A look of sadness crossed her face as she studied the picture. Suddenly, she began speaking as though she knew someone else was in the room. Danny was startled for a moment, before he realized that she was only speaking to herself

She sighed. "Jazz looked so beautiful on her graduation day," Maddie whispered, picking up the small frame once again as she proceeded toward the stares, "too bad it's to only high school graduation I'll get to see" The end of her sentence was hard to make out, for her voice had begun to crack. Danny could see the tears beginning to form in her eyes as she disappeared from view.

He stared after her, a look of mild shock on his face. Had she been referring to him with that statement? Or was that just what he wanted to believe? He pondered this for a few more moments before realizing he had to get moving. His mother would probably be back soon, and he had to get Technus into portal and head back to the school.

Moving toward the portal, he checked to make sure no one was around and became visible once more. Placing his finger to the special genetic lock, he watched as the light turned green and the portal opened. He entered the contents of the thermos, which were Technus and a few other ghosts that had apparently been caught by Sam, and closed the portal back up before any ghosts could escape.

His work in the lab finished, he shot off in the direction of the school, wondering if Sam would still remember the previous night's events, and if she did, would it be a good or a bad thing?

He reached the doors and flew strait in, this time not hesitating on the outside. Now he was not met with empty halls, but the din of many conversations taking place at once. It seemed that school had just begun.

Taking a quick look around, he located Sam and Tuck in front of the same locker he'd seen them at yesterday before lunch. They were leaned against the wall and seemed to be deep in conversation. Danny flew up to get a closer look.

"Sam I still think you were dreaming," were the first intelligible words that met his ears as he flew closer to his two friends. He could imagine what type of conversation had transpired before he'd arrived. It looked like Sam remembered, and she'd explained the whole matter to Tuck.

However, the next part of the conversation proved this theory wrong, as Sam replied playfully, "No Tuck, I'm telling you. I heard you mumbling about Valerie while you dozed off in math yesterday"

"Whatever you say Sam," said Tuck sarcastically, rolling his eyes. However, Danny could see his cheeks darken a bit.

Before their conversation could continue any further, the bell rang, and Sam said, "Come on Tuck, we'll be late for class"

"Yeah and that would be a real shame," replied Tucker, rolling his eyes once more as he followed his companion into the nearest classroom, leaving Danny on his own once more.

Danny just stayed there, the playful conversation from just moments before still ringing in his ears. So Sam hadn't remembered then? It sure did seem that way by her carefree disposition. Or perhaps maybe she'd thought it had all been a strange dream. Danny didn't know whether to feel happy or disappointed by the thought.

With nothing better to do, he decided to peek in on whatever class the two had just entered into. Without a second thought, he phased through the door and into the classroom. He took to floating in the corner, so that he was nearly touching the ceiling, and sat back to watch.

It looked like Lancer was still teaching at Casper High, because there he was, standing at the front of the class looking as bald and overweight as he always had. It looked like Danny had wandered into Lancer's English class. First period too! Who wanted to start the day with Lancer?

It seemed that they'd been reading a novel called 'Great Expectations', because Lancer was holding a copy at the front of the room and each student had the book out on their desk. Lancer began talking, and soon Danny felt himself drifting off as he always had in one of Lancer's classes. The only difference was that this time, Lancer couldn't berate him about it, for he could not see him.

However, halfway on his trip into unconsciousness, his ghost sense went off. He was so startled by the sudden feeling of cold that he felt himself flicker into visibility for just a moment. Catching himself, he immediately became invisible again, clutching his pounding heart.

He looked around the room. No one seemed to have noticed. In fact, none of them had even looked up from their book, from which Lancer was currently reading an excerpt. Danny wondered if this was because they were actually interested in his lesson or if they were just asleep mentally and couldn't comprehend what he was saying.

He was about to calm his nerves and go search for the ghost, until his next glance around the room almost made his heart stop. He'd thought that every student had been too absorbed in their book to notice him, but he was wrong. There was Sam, eyes wide as dinner plates, staring in shock and confusion at the exact place where he was floating.

**OK, there you have it. It might seem a bit stupid that Sam didn't acknowledge their first encounter, but that plays into the plot a bit more later. This chapter was Danny's first run in with an enemy, and believe me, it's just the start of his troubles. **

**Anyway, that's all I'm telling you about this time. Please review if you have the time! Cya next chapter!**


	8. The Hunted

**OK guys, Sparkling Patronus here again (yes, I am going to say that at the beginning of every chapter :P). Well, with nothing else to do this weekend, I've managed to finish yet another chapter early! Thanks for the awesome feedback guys, it's what makes me want to write in the first place. Well, here's the next chapter.**

Danny could do nothing but stare back at Sam, who undoubtedly knew she was staring strait at him. How could he have been so careless? He let his guard down for one second and this was what happened.

Pulling his eyes away from her, he suddenly shot up through the ceiling, not even bothering to look back and check if she was still staring at the wall where he'd been only moments before. Well, if she hadn't remembered before, he'd certainly refreshed her memory.

He flew on, not exactly sure where he was going. At this point he'd completely forgotten that his ghost sense had even gone off, but there didn't seem to be a ghost in sight anyway. He stopped and landed on a nearby rooftop to catch his breath, making himself visible again. He'd check on his friends again after school. Sam was bound to say something to Tucker now, and he had to know what would happen from there. However, his friends wouldn't be getting out of class for a bit, and Danny was confident Sam couldn't say anything to him during class. Perhaps they'd talk about it over lunch? He'd have to check back in a little while.

For now, Danny lifted off of the roof top slowly, and was about to take off when a blast struck him from behind. He did a bit of a flip in mid air, skidding a few feet before coming to a halt by the end of the roof. Picking himself up, he turned around to meet his attacker.

However, his foe was not a ghost, as he'd expected, but rather a ghost hunter, clad in red and pointing a rather large bazooka his way. His mind hardly even had time to process what was going on before another blast hit him, this time in the chest, and sent him over the edge of the roof.

He shot back up after dropping down only a few feet and flew around in the opposite direction. How could he have been so careless? Of course Valerie's scanner was going to pick him up; he was only about a block away from the school! He marveled at the fact that she'd been able to escape from class so quickly.

Darting to the side as another blast hit him; he switched directions and turned himself invisible. However, this did not help because Valerie could obviously still tell where he was. However, he was almost certain she hadn't realized exactly who he was, because there had been no shouts of extreme rage and surprise.

He ducked another blast and did a summersault in midair, switching directions to head toward the park. However, Valerie was still in hot pursuit, perfectly imitating his actions and not slipping behind at all. Danny noted that she'd gotten better at maneuvering her board. Suddenly, he felt himself going down as an unexpected blast hit him squarely between his shoulder blades.

He hit the cement hard, and felt himself flicker back to visibility as he struggled to peel himself off the cement. Valerie lowered her board to hover in front of him, and aimed her gun. He turned to face her, and she froze. Danny could almost see the looks of recognition and rage crossing her face from behind her mask.

"You!" she shrieking, causing Danny to cringe, "I thought I got rid of you over a year ago! You think you're going to start causing problems again? Well, I've got news for you…"

She didn't bother to finish her sentence, apparently preferring to let her gone do the talking. Danny heard the hum of her gun charging up, and quickly put up a shield as she fired the blast. It glanced off and reduced a nearby tree to a pile of smoldering ashes.

Lowering the shield Danny stood up and put his arms up defensively, "I haven't come here to cause problems! I just-"

But his sentence was cut short, as Valerie saw her chance to fire another blast at him. Seeing that talking was useless, Danny took flight again, a now enraged Valerie on his tail.

He could vaguely hear her shouting something at him, but he ignored it, trying to figure out what he could do to escape. Dodging yet another blast, he was struck by a sudden idea. Changing directions yet again, he headed back to the school.

He darted inside quickly. As he'd suspected, Valerie did not follow. She couldn't follow him into the school on her board, since she couldn't just go through the ceiling like he could. Still, she might follow him on foot, he had to change fast.

Darting invisibly into the boy's room, he did a quick check to make sure there was no one else in there. Then, once he was sure the coast was clear, he shot into one of the stall and changed back to Danny Fenton.

He sank onto the floor, panting not from exhaustion, but from panic. He thought his heart would beat out his chest. Valerie knew he was back. This would definitely pose some new problems. He was sure to be back at the top of her hit list now, and if he knew Valerie, she wouldn't rest until she caught him. He'd have to be extremely careful how much he used his ghost form now. He hoped Valerie wouldn't tell anyone she'd seen him, because then this could spiral into an even bigger problem. He didn't think she would though; the risk of exposing herself was too great, and that would lead to awkward questions.

Fortunately for him, he'd learned to use his more basic powers in his human form. The downside was that it was extremely draining, and he'd most likely have to rest after using them for a period of time. He sighed, once again doubting whether his decision to return was a good one.

After he'd been sitting in the stall for who knows how long, he heard the door open, and someone else enter. Danny immediately scrambled to his feet and stood still. He had no idea who it was that was in the bathroom with him, but he didn't really feel the need to find out. Fortunately, the person only did what they needed to and left in a hurry. Danny assumed it was a freshman; no one else was ever that quick to get back to class.

Danny decided that it would probably be better if he got out of there. He tested his ability to fly in his human form, floating off the ground just a bit. It was relatively easy, and he decided that he should be able to remain airborne long enough to find a rooftop or something to stop on. He turned to take off through the roof, when the door opened again and several people filed in, talking rather loudly.

Danny wondered if it was lunch time. After all, that was the only time the bathroom got so crowded at once. Either that or the previous class had ended at the very least. Deciding to instead see what time it was, Danny instead turned invisible and walked through the stall and out into the hallway.

It seemed he'd been correct, for the halls bustled with people collecting their lunches and walking toward the cafeteria. Maybe his fight with Valerie had been longer than he'd thought. Didn't the teachers ever get suspicious that she spent hours at a time in the bathroom? He shook his head, looking around for Sam and Tuck. He didn't dare fly up, because it would sap his energy too quickly. He should be able to remain invisible for a fairly long time, even in his human form, for it was the simplest of all his powers.

Spotting the two of them walking away from their lockers, he walked behind quietly. Tucker was talking enthusiastically, but Sam only seemed to be half listening. She nodded the appropriate places or gave a feeble laugh, but she kept her eyes trained on the floor, as if she was thinking of something else.

They reached what Danny assumed was their usual table, since it was the same one they'd sat at last time, and sat down. Tucker, finally seeming concerned about Sam's behavior, asked, "What's up with you anyway Sam? You've been acting all weird since first period this morning"

Sam, taking her eyes off the table, looked up at Tucker and said quietly, "OK, there's something I really need to tell you…"

**OK yeah, another cliffhanger. Get used to 'em, the chapter I just wrote has one too. I'm sorry, they're just such awesome places to stop writing…**

**Well, please leave a review and I'll try to get the next chapter up as quickly as possible! Hope you liked this one, cuz we're nearing the most climactic chapters now. Well, cya next time!**


	9. Escalating Problems

**OK, sorry about the delayed update, you know how bad writer's block can be. Anyway, sorry to say that my chapters are going to be a bit shorter at some points. I know that I'm draggin this out, but I swear things will start to move faster after the climax that will occur very soon. I can also promise that he will have an actual confrontation next chapter. OK, here's chapter 9.**

Danny watched wide eyed as Sam took a deep breath and looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear what she was about to say. He knew what would happen now; she was going to tell Tucker what she'd seen this morning. Half of him wanted to run and not hear the conversation that was about to ensue, while the other half wanted to stay and hope for the best. The latter half won out, and Danny inched closer so he would be able to hear better.

Satisfied that no one was listening to them, Sam began, "OK Tuck, I have to tell you something, but you have to hear me out and not make any comments until I'm finished"

"That's never a very good way to start a story Sam," Tucker joked.

"Tucker! I'm serious. I-I think I saw Danny yesterday," at this, Tucker opened his mouth to speak, but Sam held up her hand to silence him and said, "No Tuck, I know what you're going to say, but I swear, it's really him this time! Last night I was in a fight with a ghost I met on my way home. I don't know exactly what happened, but I remember being hit with something and blacking out. When I woke up, I found myself in my bed and…he was standing right next to me. I sat up, but he took off before I could do anything else"

At this Tucker could no longer keep silent, "Sam, you were probably just dreaming. You miss him, so you're making yourself believe it was real"

"No Tuck, that's what I thought at first too! I just brushed it off and told myself it hadn't happened. Then, this morning in English, I was staring into space and I saw him. He was there for just a second but I know it was him! I swear Tuck, I know it is!" at this point Sam's voice had begun to crack, as if tears were threatening to spill from her eyes at any moment. Danny could tell from her face that she was trying very hard not to cry.

"Sam, I know how you feel, but it just doesn't make sense. Why would Danny just start randomly showing up wherever you are? I thought you stopped doing this last year. I mean you can't start believing it's him whenever a room is cold or you hear a noise when no one's around Sam. He left two years ago Sam, and chances are that he's never coming back. I know you're upset, I am too. I'm upset and angry at him for doing this to us, but we're just going to have to accept it"

Sam looked extremely hurt by Tucker's words, and it appeared she was about to say something else when the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. Not saying another word, Sam stood up and practically ran from the table, leaving an upset Tucker and guilty Danny in her wake.

A bit more slowly, Tucker also stood, threw out the remains of his lunch, and began walking away. Now Danny was the only one left at the table, and he felt a bit nauseous. He hadn't realized that he'd done that to Sam and Tucker. He didn't think he'd put that much stress on them. As foolish as he now saw it was, he'd thought they wouldn't mind his leaving at all. He felt guiltier now than he'd ever felt in his life.

It suddenly dawned on him that he'd probably done the same thing to his parents. The thought of his mother picking up that shattered remains of Jazz's photo came rushing back to him. Perhaps his mother really had been talking about him.

Danny finally stood a few minutes later and flew up and out of the school again. Sometimes just flying could help him clear his mind. However, he forgot that he was not in his ghost form, and he soon found himself exhausted. Landing on a nearby roof, he tucked his knees up to his chin and became visible once again. Rocking slowly back and forth, he tried to sort out the many different thoughts racing through his mind.

Even though he now knew that the people he loved missed him, it didn't make his situation any less difficult. How would they react if he returned? He couldn't possibly hope that things could return to the way they once were, at least not right away. He'd caused them too much pain, he'd left them all behind without a second thought, and he knew forgiveness would probably not be an easy thing for them. As he found himself doing frequently lately, he began to curse himself silently for ever making his choice in the first place.

It was strange. Before he'd begun looking through those photographs, he'd never doubted his choice at all. He'd thought he was perfectly happy with his life in the other town. Even though he'd missed them, he'd never had second thoughts about what he'd done. Then…then he'd seen those smiling faces staring up at him from the photographs, and he'd realized he hadn't smiled like that in a long time. He hadn't only come back to see if they missed him, he'd come back because he was missing a part of himself. The part that would always remain with his family and friends. With these thoughts still in his head, Danny found himself drifting off to sleep.

Soon, he found himself immersed in a strange dream. His parents and friends were all standing around him in a circle, each of them holding an ectoblaster. They were all talking at once, so that he couldn't understand anything they were saying, and yet he somehow knew they were yelling at him. They were closing in, the guns were almost upon him; he saw them simultaneously pull the trigger and…

Danny didn't see what happened next, because he was suddenly awakened by a blast of energy shooting into him. Shaking himself out of his daze, he wondered what on earth was going on. Turning, he saw someone he'd hoped he'd never have to deal with again pointing a gun at his forehead. Skulker, the 'ghost zone's greatest hunter', was upon him.

"Ah, so what Technus says is true," exclaimed Skulker, cocking his gun, "The ghost boy has returned to Amity"

Skulker took another shot, but by this time Danny was alert enough to dodge the blast, vaguely wondering how word could travel through the ghost zone so quickly. Not even wasting a second, he quickly changed into his ghost form, knowing full well that Valerie would probably be with them shortly. Taking off from the roof he'd been floating on, he shot a blast over his shoulder at the other ghost, making sure not to slow his momentum in the slightest. He didn't bother turning invisible, no one would recognize him from this high up.

From somewhere behind him he heard Skulker's voice shout, "You always have to ruin everything don't you ghost child? At the peak of our planning you just had to show your face again. Well, we won't have to worry about your face when it's mounted on my wall now will we?"

Rolling his eyes at the hunter's familiar line, he soon found himself flying toward Casper High. Deciding that wasn't safe, he changed course and headed the other way so fast he nearly crashed into the other ghost. Skulker, who took this chance to make an easy shot, sent Danny spiraling down. Danny stopped himself from falling halfway to the ground and shot back up, only to be met with another blast. This time, he felt his back collide with the hard cement.

Danny heard shrieks as he lay on the sidewalk, and he knew that Skulker would come to meet him any second. However, the throbbing pain in his skull would not allow him to open his eyes. Soon he heard strange sounds of struggle, and he wondered what was going on. Finally, after the pain seceded a bit, he was able to force one eye open.

At first, his vision was blurred by the bright sunshine and the pain still pulsing through his body. Blinking the stars out of his eyes, he waited for his vision to swim into focus What he saw made his breath catch in his chest. There, standing over him with looks of shock on their faces, where none other than Sam and Tuck.

**K, once again, sorry about the size, I know it's sort of short. Hope you didn't think this chapter was too bad, I know it was pretty uneventful, but like I said it'll speed up in just a couple of chapters, so please bear with me. Oh, by the way, the bad news is that the never ending chain of cliffhangers will be continuing on for about two or three more chapters before it is broken.**

**Well anyway, please leave a review if you have the time! I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner than I did this one! See you next time!**


	10. Confrontations

**Hey all Sparkling Patronus here once again! Dunno why, but I was struck by inspiration today and wrote an entire chapter. So now I'm updating early, yay! This chapter happens to be a very important one, so I really hope you guys aren't disappointed with it. Thanks so much for the feedback by the way, you know I really appreciate it! So, without further ado, the next chapter:**

Danny couldn't believe what he was seeing. There he was, lying on the sidewalk, fully exposed, with none other than Sam and Tuck standing over him. This was the type of thing he'd been planning and waiting for, but at the same time dreading, since he'd returned. It seemed as someone had frozen time as he stared up at them

In his daze, Danny noticed that there was a Fenton Thermos clutched in Sam's right hand, which she was currently clutching so hard her knuckles were turning white. Skulker was no where to be seen, so Danny assumed Sam had caught him with a spare thermos.

The three just stood there, mixed emotions running through each of them. It seemed as if they were the only three left on the planet, and none of them would ever move. Finally, however, Sam seemed to awaken from her trance.

At first it was only her expression that changed, moving from one of shock to some other unreadable emotion. Then she began to whisper, and though it was very soft, the sudden sound made both boys jump and look at her.

"No," she said, so softly it was barely audible. With that, she began to back up, slowly at first, repeating the word over and over. Danny was quite shocked by this reaction, but he could do nothing about it. It was as if he was watching the scene from somewhere else. He felt like this was happening, but he was not a part of it.

Sam just kept repeating, "No…no…no" shaking her head as if she had a headache and turning backwards to retreat. Finally, she just turned tail and fled, leaving two stunned boys in her wake.

Now Tucker was the next to move. After Sam fled, Tucker looked back to Danny, an odd expression that resembled Sam's also implanted on his face. However, he said nothing. He then looked back at the place where Sam had retreated, and then back to Danny again, as if he could not make up his mind whether he should continue standing there or chase after his friend. Finally, he chose the latter, and he spun on his heel and took of down the sidewalk in the same direction Sam had gone only moments before.

It took Danny several minutes to process what had actually happened. In fact, he spent a ten minutes lying on the cold pavement in the same position, though time seemed irrelevant to him at the moment. He didn't know what on earth to think of the sudden and strange reactions he'd received from his friends. He also hadn't the faintest clue what he should do about it.

Danny figured he had two options now. The first being that he could take off toward Sam or Tucker's house and see what they were doing, and possibly even try to resolve some issues. The other, less favorable and actually more so at the same time, was to turn around and pretend that this encounter had never happened. He wasn't sure where he would go if he chose the latter. He didn't know if he would leave Amity, or whether he would stay and just quietly and anonymously observe the town for the rest of is life. Heck, he couldn't think of that right now, he couldn't even think far enough ahead to whether he should stand up or not.

However, he was soon forced to move as one of the pedestrians finally seemed to notice the ghost boy lying on the sidewalk. Shocked from his comatose state by this sudden development, Danny suddenly took to the skies, glad something had finally made him move.

Now flying through the air, he felt his thoughts clear a bit as he began to relax. Flying always seemed to have a sort of calming affect on him, and it was helping him greatly. Finally, he decided that the only smart decision was to confront the problem. He'd come back to prove he wasn't a coward, and he wasn't about to back down now.

Resolve strengthened, Danny decided to set off for Sam's house first. He didn't know why, it just seemed right to go there, especially since her reaction had been the more drastic. He wasn't quite sure whether or not it was wise to see her again so soon, but right now he decided it was a chance he would take.

Once again becoming invisible, he floated to her window and peered in. As always, Sam was in her room. It was the only part of her entire vast mansion where she ever stayed. She said every other room was so neat and ornate that it sickened her. She preferred to stay in her darker, and slightly messy, room.

Taking a deep breath, Danny feebly attempted to calm his frazzled nerves. He had no clue how he was supposed to just walk in there and reveal himself to her. This would probably be one of the most important moments of his life, and that thought scared him to no end. However, telling himself it was now or never, he slipped inside her room and, taking only a few seconds to compose himself, became visible once again.

This time however, Sam's reaction to him was not nearly as rash. She slowly lifted her head up, staring at him with dulled eyes that were puffy around the edge, signifying the fact that she had been crying. She held his gaze for only a moment before she dropped her head back down.

Taking a deep breath, he began, "Sam, I-"

However, she didn't allow him to get any further, cutting him off with a slow and weary voice, "Don't say anything Danny. You know, you really had me there for a second you know that," she said, giving him a weary chuckle, "But now I've figured out what this really is. It's just another one of those dreams. I'm sick of them by now you know. I've been having these dreams frequently since you left, and I've stopped believing in them. I thought they stopped last year, but I guess I was wrong. I lost my head back there for a moment, but now I'm just going to sit here and wait for myself to wake up so I can just tell myself it wasn't real. It's never real…"

Danny could only listen to her words, feeling as though his heart would snap in half. Here was Sam, his best friend. Sam, who was tough; who had never let anyone see her cry since she was three years old. Sam, who had always been there, good or bad, now lying broken on her bedspread. Danny didn't know how to react. The very sight of her was making him want to drop to his knees and cry.

"No Sam," he choked, trying to get the words out, "I'm here, I swear I'm-"

But once again she cut him off, this time a hint of anger flashing in her violet eyes, "No you're not. No matter how many times you say that to me I know it isn't true. You haven't been here since you left two years ago, and neither have I, and neither has Tucker, or Jazz or your mother and father! When you left you took something away from all of us, and now we just have to put up this façade and pretend like nothing matters for the never ending fear that someone will start crying. Nothing's been the same since that day"

Now she paused. Her breathing was becoming heavy and ragged; as if she was fighting with everything she had to not cry. She had not looked at him again over the entire period of time she'd been talking, and she did not do so now either. After a moment she began again, "I don't know how you could have been so selfish, how could you have done this to all of us? How could you just leave without a second thought? Where we really that worthless to you?"

At this, she finally brought her eyes up to him again, and Danny could have sworn the look in them almost physically knocked him over. He didn't believe he'd ever seen so many emotions openly displayed in Sam's eyes before; she'd always tried to keep them to herself. However, now there was a questioning expression that held sorrow, anger, fear and so many other unreadable emotions. Danny would never believe this from what he'd seen at Casper High on his first visit; she'd seemed so carefree then. Yet here she was, pouring her heart out to him though she didn't even believe he was really there.

Once again, Danny felt the strong need to say something to her; though he wasn't sure his emotions could be put into words. He opened his mouth to speak again, but she beat him to it.

"Enough," she said, lowering her eyes once again, "I can't keep doing this. I can't keep saying the same thing to you every time. I can't keep on feeling like I've said everything that needed saying, only to wake up and find you were never really there to hear it. I keep talking to you when I know you're not here, and I think I'm beginning to doubt my own sanity. Just go away Danny, go away before I wake up in the middle of a sentence. It's too much for me to handle this anymore. Just leave…"

At this, Sam pulled that covers over her head, and Danny could see her form curl into a ball from beneath them. Feeling that she wouldn't interrupt him this time, he bravely readied himself for his explanation again.

However, he'd barely said two words before he saw the doorknob begin to turn from across the room. Not even stopping to think, he turned himself invisible as the door swung open.

**And there you have it, he's actually talked to Sam. OK, so she doesn't actually believe he was there, but I swear the actual realization draws ever nearer! Well anyway, hope you liked it and please leave a review! I'll update soon, cya next time! **


	11. Realizations

**Hey guys, don't know why, but I haven't been inspired too much lately. Luckily though, I had enough yesterday to get this chapter finished. I think it came out fine though, even if it isn't very eventful. Well anyways, thanks for the reviews and enjoy the chapter!**

Danny watched from his place by the window as the door swung open and Tucker entered the room. His friend seemed to be in just as bad shape as Sam. His eyes were dulled and he looked weary, as if he'd been in a big fight. He entered the room quietly, making almost no noise as he closed the door behind him.

Taking a look at Sam's bed, he heaved a sigh, his expression becoming even more depressed. Wandering over to Sam's bed, he placed a hand on the lump of sheets he knew she was residing under. Sam shut up and turned her head sharply, as if she was ready to attack him, but when she saw Tucker standing above her, her expression softened, and she crumpled into the sheets once more.

The two stood in silence for about five minutes while Danny watched them, feeling the tension in the air beginning to suffocate him. Finally, after a long period of silence, Sam sat up once again,

Danny could barely make out her words as she whispered, "I saw Danny again". Her voice cracked as she spoke, and Danny could see that her eyes were as red and puffy as ever. She continued, "Why do I keep having these dreams Tuck? I should be over this by now, it's been two years! I keep seeing him, even though he's not really there"

After she'd said this, she dropped her head in her hands, not even looking up at Tucker. Tuck's expression softened as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I know Sam, But this time…I saw him too"

At these words, Sam reacted faster than Danny would have thought possible. Her head shot up, and in an instant she was on her feet, staring Tucker strait in the eye. "What did you say?" she asked quietly, her flannel sheets still clutched in her hands.

"I saw him too Sam," said Tucker, pushing his friend into a sitting position and taking a seat beside her, "outside, a block from the school. I don't think your dreaming this time."

At this point, Sam's eyes widened with realization, "But…but if he was really outside…that means he was really here a few minutes ago!" She jumped from the bed and stared at Tucker with wide eyes, "Oh my God Tuck he was here, and I told him to go away! I thought I was dreaming and I told him to leave!"

Sam turned to the corner where Danny was still floating, now invisible, as if she was expecting to see him there. "Oh my God Tuck," she repeated, "I've driven him away again! What if he's gone for good this time?" She collapsed on the bed next to her friend, but Tucker was wearing an expression of shock, and seemed to be staring across the room at nothing in particular.

"He was here?" he asked, turning to Sam, "are you sure? How long ago"

"I…I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention. I think he disappeared shortly before you arrived," she said, looking up from where she'd been sobbing into her hands. At this point her face was a mess. Her black mascara had run down her face and mixed with her tears. It was now smudged in various places, giving her a quite scary appearance. However, neither of the two was very worried about that at the moment.

Suddenly, Sam jumped off the bed and shouted, "Danny! Danny are you still here? Answer me Danny. If you're here, please come out…."

Tucker, unsurprised by his friend's sudden outburst, once again gently coaxed her into sitting down. "I don't know Sam, I don't think he's still here now, even if what you say is true and he was here before"

"No, I know he was here before!" Sam half-shouted, now she sounded angry, as if she was mad that Tuck would even suggest that she'd imagined it, "Danny! Please Danny…please…you have to still be here…"

Danny, who had been watching the whole scene unfold, realized that he now once again had a choice to make. He had two options once again, turn and flee the room and leave Sam and Tuck behind to sort this out on their, or reveal himself and sort it out with them. At the moment, neither of them seemed too appealing. Obviously he had the third option of not confronting them at all, but he was counting that one out, for he'd told himself many times already that he was not running away no matter how tough things got.

Danny had thought that there had been many tough decisions that he'd made in these last few days. He'd thought returning had been hard, he'd thought seeing his friends and family again had been hard, and he'd thought coming to Sam's house had been hard just a half hour ago. Now however, he realized that this would probably be the hardest. If he left, he knew he'd still have to deal with this problem eventually, and he knew that this situation could only get worse as time wore on. However, if he chose to reveal himself he'd have to deal with it now, and that thought scared him as much as the first.

Now he realized that he'd never thought ahead. If he revealed himself, what would he do next? He could patch things up with Sam and Tuck right now, but there would still be Jazz, his parents, Valerie…. And what would he do about school? He hadn't given that much thought at all actually. He'd obviously have to start again, so how would he deal with every single kid he'd known before he'd left. How did he explain how he'd suddenly appeared after two years and where he'd been during that time?

Then another thought struck him. He'd dropped out of school in sophomore year and he hadn't learned anything since. There was no way he could be in senior year with his friends! They'd graduate this year and move on to college and he'd only be moving to his junior year. How on earth would he be able to bear that? It would be like be like being two years younger than them. He'd probably never see them in school either, since their lockers, classes and lunchrooms would all be on different floors. How was he supposed to go back to school and make friends with kids that were two years younger than him? It made him wish he'd thought to enroll at the local public high school near his old apartment.

As he was thinking this over, Sam had given up on calling to him. Apparently there was only so much disappointment one girl could take. Tucker was also looking a bit worse for the wear. In fact, he looked about as bad as Danny felt right now. The two of them both looked too old and distressed to be seventeen year olds.

After sitting for a few moments, the two stood up, though it seemed more like Tucker was guiding Sam, who seemed to be in a sort of daze. Apparently Tucker wanted to get Sam out of the room and take her mind off things before she had a complete breakdown, which she really wasn't far from at this point.

Danny didn't know where they were going, but he knew that if he didn't make up his mind in the next three seconds, he was going to lose his second option. Mind racing with twenty thoughts a second, he watched as Tucker began guiding Sam out the door. They were almost halfway through the archway when Danny gathered his courage and made his decision.

Before Tucker could shut the door behind him, Danny shouted, "Wait!", and lifted his gloved hand in the air in an invisible gesture for them to halt.

Tucker and Sam bother froze in place and turned back to the room, eyes darting around to find the person who had shouted.

Danny flickered back to visibility, hand still outstretched as if reaching out to them. Dropping his arm to his side, he looked at them with glassy eyes and said, "I'm here…"

**DUN DUN DUN! Yes, another cliffhanger, and the next chapter is not only going to be the one you've undoubtedly been waiting for, but also the end to the long chain of cliffies! Yay! Well, anyway, hope you like the chapter, and please leave a review because I'd really like to know what you thought! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! Cya next time!**


	12. Awkward Conversation

**OK guys, finally I've reached the climax chapter. Really sorry for leaving it off for so long. But this was a really hard chapter to write. Well, thanks a ton for your great reviews! Enjoy chapter 12:**

This was it. He'd made his decision and there was no backing out now. He felt a shiver run down his spine as his friends spotted him. Everyone in the room froze. Sam and Tucker looked at him, but he could not read the expressions on their faces. He wasn't quite sure whether that was a good sign or not.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Sam finally spoke in a small, barely audible whisper, "You are here…"

Danny, not sure what he was supposed to say in a situation like this, only said in reply, "Yeah…I am…"

After this there was just some more awkward staring. Danny, feeling rather uncomfortable hovering ten feet in the air, floated down and let his feet touch solid ground. Now he was standing face to face with the two of them.

Tucker, who seemed to be keeping the calmest at this point, said, "So…you came back…but, why did you leave in the first place?" He didn't seem as if he was trying to sound angry at this, just questioning, but Danny could tell by his tone that he was rather annoyed with him.

Now Danny felt extremely stupid. He knew his reasons for leaving were pretty stupid, but now they seemed even worse when he was about to use them as a means for explanation.

Taking a deep breath, and trying to keep his voice steady, he replied, "I-I don't know…everything just seemed so hard back then, so complicated. I thought the stress was too much for me…so I left to get away from it…" He hung his head, not wanting to see his friend's face for fear of what he might find there.

However, though he could avoid his friend's face, he could not avoid his words, into which anger was now seeping, "Too stressed out? Danny, don't you think we were all stressed out? Me and Sam and Jazz were all going through the exact same things as you. Every time you had to fight a ghost, so did we. We had the same school work and the same tests. We went through everything you did; we were right there with you"

Danny felt the guilt coming over him in waves as he listened to his friend's voice. He'd berated himself about the very same things, but hearing the words come from his friend's mouth made him feel even worse. Looking up, he saw that Tucker's expression was not really as angry as his voice has suggested, though his eyes were narrowed into a semi glare.

After a few moments, Danny gathered up the courage to reply, "I know that now Tuck. Hell, I've cursed myself for it more times than I can count at this point. I realize it was stupid and that it was selfish, but back then I don't think I even fully realized what I was doing. I didn't realize how much I was hurting everyone…"

Sam, who had remained silent since her last whispered statement, replied, "What made you think you would be hurting us Danny? We're your friends; we were with you through everything, good and bad. We've told you countless times what you've meant to us…I've told you what you meant to me…. You have no clue how badly you hurt all of us when you did that. I can't even comprehend how you could do it without a second thought…"

All of this was making Danny extremely awkward. He wanted to tell them everything. How he'd been miserable since he'd left, how he'd missed them and hated himself every day for leaving, how hard it had been to return. He wanted to say all of these things and so many more, but there didn't seem to be any way he could put these feelings into words. Suddenly feeling completely devoid of energy, he collapsed onto the bed and reverted back to his human form, eyes trained on the floor.

Taking another deep, shaky breath, he said, "I know, I can't blame you for being mad. I can't blame you if you hate me. It was really hard to come back here, but I needed to see you guys again, to see my family again. But…if you all want me to leave again…I'll understand" He dropped his head down once again after he finished speaking, silently praying that they wouldn't really request that he leave. As hard as this confrontation was, he knew it would probably be harder to turn away now when there was still so much that needed to be said.

At this, her expression softened a bit as she said, "No Danny, don't leave. Believe me; we don't want to go through that again. You don't know how long I've been praying for you to come back. It's just…you can't really blame me for being mad at you. You left us here. You escaped your problems, but you just made a lot more for us, and the worst part was that you didn't even seem to care. You never even said goodbye…." At this Sam didn't seem able to speak anymore. She choked back her tears, not wanting to seem any more pathetic than she already did. She had never displayed her emotions so openly before, and it was making her feel extremely awkward.

Now Tucker stepped forward again, his expression somewhat calmer, and asked, "Hey…if you don't mind me asking…what made you come back anyway?"

Danny blinked a moment, as if not fully understanding Tucker's question. His brain seemed to be on standby at the moment. After a few seconds the gears started to turn again, and he reached for his backpack to show them the photographs. That was when he realized for the first time that the backpack wasn't there.

Realizing that his hand was grasping air, he whirled around, looking slightly like a dog trying to grab its own tail as he searched for the knapsack. These actions seemed to startle Sam and Tucker slightly, but Danny didn't notice. He knew he'd had that pack when he'd entered Amity, so where was it now? Had he left it on the street, at the school, at his house, somewhere else? Perfect, he'd managed to lose a sack filled with his most cherished memories, his photographs.

"What's the matter?" came Sam's slightly alarmed voice as she watched Danny twirl around in confusion. She seemed to think he'd gone mad.

Danny, as if realizing that the two were still there, turned back to Sam and said, "My pack…my photographs, they're what made me come back, but I don't know what I did with them…" He brought a hand to his face and rubbed his forehead. As if this day hadn't been troublesome enough.

Without looking up, he felt a weight on the bed next to him, signifying that someone had sat down next to him. Now even looking up, he was sure it was Sam.

"I'm not saying I'm not still hurt about what you did to us…but I am glad that you're back," she whispered. Danny looked up, realizing for the first time exactly how much of a mess her face was right now.

He felt a slight smile cross his face at her words. He knew this situation was not anywhere close to being resolved. In fact, he didn't know if it ever would be completely. However, as he looked up at the two friends he hadn't seen in so long standing so close to him, he realized that this was definitely a start.

**And there you have it, probably one of the most important chapter in this fic. I really hope you guys though it was alright, like I said, it was really hard to write. Please leave me a review and tell me what you thought and I'll try to get the next one up faster!**


	13. Unfortunate Predicament

**Hey all, Sparkling Patronus again! Once again, I apologize for the long wait, but it's been hard to find time to write with all of my school work. Anyways, thanks muchly for the reviews guys! I appreciate them every time. Well, here's the next chapter.**

Tired. That was the only way to explain how Danny felt right now, physically and emotionally tired. Night had fallen some time ago, and Danny had just recently taken to the skies. After he, Sam and Tuck had gotten through the harder part of their…the only word he could think to call it was a confrontation…they'd begun to talk about other things. They'd told him about his family, and he found out that Jazz had decided to go to Stanford for college. It had all been extremely awkward to say the least.

Though his friends had tried to seem calm during the conversation they were having, he could tell that the pain he'd caused them still lingered, and it made it very hard to talk. Sam seemed broken, and though she tried to keep her emotions barricaded in like she usually did, she wasn't doing such a great job. Tucker on the other hand, seemed a bit aggravated at him, and even snapped at him a couple of times. Needless to say, he wouldn't exactly call it hanging out with his friends. Still, he was grateful, for he'd really needed to get some things off his chest, and that had provided the outlet. His friends were extremely tense, but he truly hoped they'd return to normal in time. He wouldn't be able to stand it if all their conversations were like their previous ones. Of course, all he could do was hope.

Now, having spent about three of the hardest hours of his life at Sam's house, he had taken to the air once more. Sam had actually offered that he stay at her house as long as he kept out of sight, but he had declined. He hadn't told her where he was going; just that he had some things he had to take care of. Strengthened by the fact that his friends now knew of his return, he was getting ready to confront his family. Obviously he was not going to do it tonight, for it was already late. However, he was going to sleep in his old room again. Heck, he'd sleep in the closet if he had to, but he was going to spend the night their and reveal himself to his parents tomorrow morning. He didn't know if he was going to tell them about his ghost half, but at the moment he was leaning toward keeping it secret. Just his return would be enough, but his return and the news that he had ghost powers? He didn't want to think about the results.

Coming to a halt, he looked down upon the house he'd visited twice since he'd returned to Amity. He knew he was taking a risk by doing this, and there was that chance that his parents might find him in the room, but right now he didn't care about that. He was tired, and he wasn't exactly thinking as clearly as he normally would. Right now he just wanted to go to sleep, there didn't even seem to be any danger in sleeping here.

Phasing into the room, he quickly checked his surroundings to make sure he was alone. He noticed that the room looked as spotless as it had the last time he'd been there, and it made him wonder how frequently his mom cleaned the room. Hopefully, she wouldn't decide to tidy up until after he woke up tomorrow.

Looking around the room through bleary eyes, he decided on a spot to sleep. There was a short distance between the far wall and his bed, just big enough to fit into. The only way to see him would be to look down at him from on top of the bed, otherwise he wasn't even noticeable. He also decided that he'd probably be able to maintain invisibility while asleep, so he allowed himself to disappear from sight. Feeling all the drowsier, he laid his head down on the carpet and practically passed out.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Danny Fenton woke up the next morning, stretched, yawned…and looked up into the barrel of a rather large bazooka. Oops, looks like he was still beyond maintaining invisibility while asleep. Apparently his mother cleaned his room a lot more frequently than he had when he'd lived there, and she'd got a bit of a shock when she'd tried to vacuum under the bed.

Though his mind still felt like a bowl of overdone spaghetti, he knew how to react when waking up with a gun to his head. For this reason he promptly screamed and stumbled backwards onto his hands, which provoked a rather unfavorable reaction from his unknowing mother.

Looking back, his decision to sleep here didn't seem as good as it had last night. In fact, it really didn't seem like all that good of an idea at all. He marveled at how terribly his brain worked when it was sleep deprived and suddenly all of those Cs and Ds he'd received after nights of ghost hunting didn't seem like such a mystery. Either way, sitting there with the prospect of having his head blown off was just adding injury to insult. Hey, wasn't that supposed to go the other way around?

However, he didn't have much more time to think on the matter as the sound of his mother's voice coupled with the charging of an ectoblaster seemed to bring him back to an unpleasant sense of reality.

"What do you think you're you doing in my house?" demanded Maddie, a rather scary fire blazing in her eyes, "I thought we got rid of you a long time ago"

Danny had no idea how to respond to this, so he settled on the idea that it must have been a rhetorical question. Still, he was in a rather sticky situation. Looking up into his mother's eyes, he saw nothing but anger, and thought with some sadness that the first time he'd seen his mother in two years she was threatening to shoot him.

Anyway, the way he saw it he had two choices. He could either fly now and risk getting shot by his mother's impeccable aim, or he could sit there on the carpet and risk getting shot by his mother's impeccable aim. Tough choice.

However, before he could turn and fly off through the roof, his mother cocked the gun and said, "Come with me. Make and sudden moves and I'll shoot. I think you could actually be just what we need to further our research…"

Had he not been marveling at the fact that his head was not already splattered across the carpet, he would have felt his stomach drop into his lower intestines at the mention of being used for an experiment. He just couldn't catch a break lately could he? His stomach constricted slightly in the terror and unfairness of the moment. He hadn't wanted to confront his parents like this. Actually he wasn't exactly sure how he'd wanted to confront them, but he knew it wasn't like this at any rate! But now he didn't have a choice, and he knew he had to figure something out sooner than later if he didn't want his ghostly body parts removed with a scalpel.

Still saying nothing, he obediently got up and stood before his mother, who proceeded to handcuff his arms with some sort of bonds that he couldn't remove. His eyes widened, he hadn't expected to be bound. Still, better to see what she wanted with him if the chances were things would be safer this way.

Feeling something press into his back, he stumbled forward as his mom prodded him along with the muzzle of her gun. Down the stairs and into the kitchen he went, nearly stumbling down the stairs with his mother's rough 'encouragement'. Suddenly, as the kitchen table came into view, his heart skipped a beat. There, on the table was his backpack. The pack that held his pictures and the card that he'd searched frantically the night before. He must have left them in his room the first time he stopped at his house! Lord only knew how his parents reacted when they found that sitting in his room.

Still, he didn't have a view of the kitchen for too long, for as soon as he hesitated his mother jabbed his sharply in the back and he continued on his journey across the house. Next they descended another flight of stairs, this time down into the lab. Here he could see his father, turned away from them, prodding at something with a screwdriver from across the room. His heart constricted painfully.

He could hear his mother finally speak again as they neared the table where his father was working.

"Jack," she said anger evident in her voice, "You'll never guess what scum I found on the floor when I was cleaning Da-…when I was cleaning this morning!" Danny flinched as he heard his mother insult him, but he said nothing.

At the sound of his wife's voice, Jack spun around, and his eyes widened at the sight of the unexpected visitor in his basement.

"What on earth…. Where did he come from? I thought he'd left…" came his father's stunned reply as he looked Danny up and down. Then a bit too suddenly, he burst, "But Maddie! You've caught a ghost! This will further our research immensely! Strap him down to the lab table"

Danny's eyes widened as his parents took of the cuffs on his wrists and tried to force him onto the cold metal of the lab table. However, he put up no fight even as they strapped him down. He had to think fast. He couldn't reveal himself to his parents like this! But how on earth was he supposed to escape when he was bound to the table? These situations just got better and better.

**OK, so there you have it. Danny's seen his parents for the first time. Well, hope you like it…I tried to be a little more humerous in this chapter, but I'm not sure how that worked out. Well anyways, please leave a review! I'd really appreciate it. I'll try to update soon!**


	14. Escape

**Ack! I posted the wrong chapter 14! I accedantally put up chapter 15! Geez, that left big plot hole –shakes head- OK, I'm adding this chapter between the other two! Sorry for that!**

Lying there on the table, Danny felt more helpless than he had in quite a while. A few minutes after strapping him down, his parents had gone up the stairs for reasons unknown to him. Now he was lying on the lab table in the basement…in the dark…with his arms bound to his sides by rather large straps. Terrific

Straining his eyes through the darkness, he looked around for a way out. He had to get out of here before his parents came back or he would be in quite a scrape. He knew that his parents had weapons that could disable a ghost's powers completely, and if they used one on him he would return to his human form almost immediately. Wow, wouldn't that be perfect? His parents hadn't seen him for two years, surely watching the ghost boy transform into him would make them incredibly happy. He shuddered.

He looked around, not even the faintest clue what he was supposed to do in this situation. He could hardly move his limbs at this point, and the darkness was making it hard to see. He sighed; it seemed like a lost cause. How could he have let it come to this? If he'd told his parents about his powers in the first place, this situation could have been prevented.

However, even as he told himself that, he wasn't sure. There was a reason he'd kept this secret from his parents. He had no clue how they'd react. For all he knew, he could have been dead long before this. However, now that he thought about it again, that seemed pretty stupid of him. He knew his parents loved him, he seriously doubted that they'd value their career over his happiness. He sighed again; things had seemed so much different when he was younger. Had his perspective of his life changed so much in the past year?

Suddenly, he was alarmed by a bright flash of light that illuminated most of the room. Blinking as his pupils adjusted, he realized that the eerie glow was coming from the now activated ghost portal across the room. His eyes widened, this was the last thing he needed right now. Having one of his foes exit the portal while he was helplessly tied to a table was not on his to do list.

To his immediate relief though, it was only the box ghost who stumbled out, the third, and most annoying, familiar enemy Danny had encountered. However, he knew the box ghost was gullible to the point that it was almost scary, and if he played his cards right, this could be his ticket out of here.

His first step was to catch the Box Ghost's attention. This proved not to be too difficult a task. Wiggling his hand around as much as was possible given the circumstances, he was able to point his arm in the favorable direction of an ectoblast. It worked, the box ghost jumped and looked over in his direction to find the source of the attack. Spotting Danny, of course, provoked one of the usual Box Ghost speeches.

"Who dares to attack the Box Ghost while his back is turned!" he shouted, waving his arms in the air in what Danny supposed was intended to be a threatening gesture.

Floating closer, the ghost was able to make out Danny's face, and he continued ranting, "You! It is the ghost child who was always trapping me in his cylindrical container of Doom! You dare attack the box ghost while you are tied down? Why, I could defeat you with one-"

Cutting off the rest of the Box Ghost's nonsense, Danny replied hastily, "I wasn't attacking you I was trying to get you're attention," he said, watching to Box Ghost's expression change slowly from rage to curiosity. He thought for a moment, looking around the lab for the means of escape from his holdings. Spotting the red release switch on the wall not to far away, he said, "See, I am chained here because I discovered one of this family's secrets. See that red button over there?"

He jerked his head in the direction of the switch, and watched as the Box Ghost's eyes lit upon it. This was too easy. He continued, "If you push that switch, the family's entire…uh…box hoard will be yours!"

He watched with satisfaction as the ghost's eyes lit up. He was suddenly glad this ghost had absolutely no common sense. Without even stopping to think twice, the chubby ghost greedily jabbed his figure into the switch and looked around expectantly.

Just as Danny had planned, the bonds disappeared as soon as the pudgy ghost pressed the switch. Jumping up immediately, he moved his arms up and down quickly to make sure they weren't damaged. Then, he turned his attention back to the now crestfallen Box Ghost.

"Well, thanks for the help moron, but I think it's time you made a disappearance now," he said, lifting his arm to send an ectoblast at the Box Ghost. He set out a powerful blast, successfully knocking the ghost back into the ghost zone. As the Box Ghost disappeared into the glowing green haze, Danny heard him shout, "But what about the boxes".

Unfortunately for Danny, the Box Ghost's passing through the portal seemed to have triggered some sort of alarm. It looked like his parents were more serious about this than he gave them credit for. Before he even had time to register the obnoxious beeping sound, he heard the sound of feet clunking clumsily down the lab stairs.

Turning, he saw his parents barreling down the stairs, his father in the lead with a rather large bazooka.

"It's the ghost boy," Jack shouted, shooting at Danny with his gun. Fortunately, his father's aim hadn't improved at all, so Danny was able to dodge the blast with ease even in his shocked state.

"How did he escape from those bonds?" he heard his mother wonder aloud, "They were fool proof?" She also took a shot. Unfortunately, her aim was better than his father, and it grazed Danny's elbow as he tried to dart out of the way.

Flying off, a bit off balance, he attempted to make a dart through the sealing. He succeeded, though his ghostly tail caught the edge of another blast before he made it completely through. His parents followed him up from the lab, shouting unintelligible words all the way up. Looking around wildly, Danny made another dash upward, appearing on the floor of his room.

Even on this floor he could here his parents clunking up the next flight of stairs to continue their chase. OK, he'd wanted to see his parents again, but this was not what he'd had in mind. At this rate they were going to maul him. He sighed and darted through the roof of the house, narrowly avoided another blast. Danny Phantom had escaped through the roof.

30 seconds later, the doorbell rang.


	15. Home Sweet Home

**Hey all! Sparkling Patronus again (I wonder how many chapter I've started by saying that?) Anyways, I've been writing this chapter on my laptop at school during studies when I have nothing to do, and I've finally finished it! Yay! OK, so a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! You guys are what keep me writing. Well, here's another climactic chapter for you! I really hope it's not disappointing. Oh yeah…Fuzzy Bunnies! (Don't ask)**

After his daring escape through the roof, Danny had decided there would be no better time than now to have the actual confrontation he'd been anticipating. Doing a complete U-turn through the morning sky, he alighted himself upon the steps of the house and returned to normal. He rang the door bell and waited with a sort of worried anticipation for his parents to answer the door. He knew they probably hadn't even descended the stairs from his room at this point.

He wrung his hands nervously and glanced around in all directions. This was the first time he'd seen the front of his house so close up in almost two years, and that thought was a little nerve-wracking in a way.

Not even a minute later, he snapped back to reality just in time to hear the door knob turn, signifying that his parents had finally come to the door. Sucking in a deep breath and holding it, he watched as the door knob turned, each second seeming to take a year in the tension of the moment.

Finally, after what seemed like a year, the door swung open, and he was standing face to face with his parents again. The difference was that this time they were not holding a loaded gun to his forehead, not that he was exactly complaining about that. He always wondered why both of his parents felt the need to answer the door though.

Nobody spoke for a moment and for a second, and Danny thought he saw something there in their eyes. For a moment he though that they remembered him, but was proved wrong when his mother spoke up.

"Hello, can I help you young man?" she asked politely.

Danny didn't know what to say, his own parents didn't recognize him. Well, then he was just going to have to remind them. Letting out his breath and taking another one, he prepared himself for what was sure to be a very long and awkward conversation.

"M-mom…" he stuttered, training his eyes on the ground so he wouldn't have to keep them on their faces. This was probably the moment he'd been waiting for since he'd entered Amity. This was more important than escaping Valerie, more important than fighting his enemies, even more important than yesterday's confrontation with his best friends. These were his parents, people he'd grown up with for the first 14 years of his life. This would determine whether he would be able to move back in with them or whether he would just have to leave the house and find his own way.

He pushed the second possibility from his mind. That would never happen. These were his parents for God's sake. They loved him, and he was sure they would take him back, at least that was what he was saying to himself for his own sake.

It was now that he'd realized there had been way too long of a pause from the last time a word had been uttered, and decided to chance looking up for some kind of reaction in his mother's face.

Glancing up, he was more than surprised to find that his mother's eyes now shone with tears. Upon meeting his eyes, she spoke again.

"D-Danny? Dear God, Danny!" she shouted, the tears now threatening to spill from her eyes. Then, so suddenly his brain had no time to react, he found himself scooped up into a bone crushing hug. Sobs were now racking his mother's body, and he felt something hot and wet slide down his cheek before he found that he was crying as well.

After a few moments of probably the most awkward hug of his life, his mother released him and looked him up and down.

"Danny…. I thought it was you… but I told myself it was impossible…. Dear God Danny, where have you been? Come inside, come in," and with that she ushered him into the house.

At this point, things were happening way to fast for Danny's mind to even hope to process them. Ten seconds ago he'd been standing out on the porch, now he was in the house and both of his parents were in tears. It was weird, to say the very least. Still, he couldn't have hoped for a better reaction from the two of them. This had been exactly what he had been hoping for when he'd been standing out on the porch.

The difference between his parents and his friends was that he saw none of the anger on their faces that had been Sam's and Tuck's. His friends had been angry, demanded an explanation before they would even come near him. His parents were so much different. It seemed that whether or not he decided to tell them what had been going on, they would still take him back, and that meant more to him than he felt words could express.

After what could easily be called the most awkward moments of his 18 year old life, there was silence in the room again, bringing Danny the feeling that the awkward felling had in fact but just begun. But now, looking into his parents tear stained faces as he fidgeted uncomfortably on the living room couch, he felt strengthened in a strange and unexpected way, almost as if he knew exactly what to say in this confusing situation.

He choked a bit, his voice still lost amongst leftover sobs as he tried to speak. Finally, the word found its way to his lips. It was only one word really, but it was one word that could express every emotion he was feeling right now, "Sorry…"

With that, he found himself once again snatched into a hug, but it didn't feel tired at all. He would sit there like this all day if that was what it meant to earn their forgiveness. All of the self-hate he'd been feeling was gone now; all he had was the desire, the _need_, to know that everything between his parents and him was OK, to know that he was home again.

After what seemed like a decade and a half, his mother dried her eyes and finally spoke again for the first time since he'd met her on the doorstep.

"Oh Danny," she said, once again bringing her arm across her face to wipe of the unwanted moisture, "Where on earth have you been?" she asked again, this time looking as if she was expecting an explanation. Danny felt obliged to give her one.

"I-I ran away to another town. But I wasn't happy there! I missed you too much, missed all of you too much! That's why I came back...I had to come back…" He replied, keeping his eyes trained on the floor the entire time he was mumbling.

"Danny! Why didn't you just tell us about your problems instead of running away! How many times have we told you that running away from your problems doesn't solve anything?" his father boomed, speaking for the first time.

"Umm…you never said that," Danny said, feeling the need to point that out despite the tense atmosphere in the room.

"Regardless, you should have come to us if you were having problems! What was so important that you would have to keep it from us?" responded his mother.

Danny tried not to smile.

"I…just needed some time to myself. But, I mean, I did come back," Danny said, not wanting to say anything more about his reasoning.

"You're right, you're here now. Come upstairs and you can go to your room, I've kept it neat for you. In case you ever came back," said Maddie.

"Thanks mom," said Danny, letting a slight smile of relief creep onto his face as he realized he was finally home.

**There you have it, Danny's home, and I actually ended a chapter without a cliffhanger. So how was it? Too anticlimactic? Please review cuz I'd really like some constructive criticism! Well, thanks for reading! I'll get the next one out as soon as possible.**


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